http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2012/12/05/city-budget-deficit-as-expected-will-hit-25-million Comments On: City Budget Deficit, as Expected, Will Hit $25 Million by Denis C. Theriault en-us Copyright 2013 Portland Mercury. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Portland Mercury readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Portland Mercury. webmaster@portlandmercury.com (Portland Mercury Webmaster) Sat, 25 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sat, 25 May 2013 21:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
We have a leaf tax, and an arts head tax, how about a grass tax? Maybe a being tax? We've got inefficient streetcars to run!
Posted by Babygorilla]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:06:08 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Denis C. Theriault]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:09:03 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by R]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:17:18 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Commenty Colin]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:01:28 -0800 Portland Mercury
When I arrived in this town in 2001, about 16 percent of my general government property taxes were skipping the City's general fund and going directly to URAs.

Looking at my 2012 property tax statement, 27 percent of property taxes going to the city are now paying for Urban Renewal debt.

That is a dramatic share of revenue being shifted away from the general fund in favor of subsidizing private sector development in the URAs as well as capital intensive public projects, such as the Street Car.

The auditor has been clear in her concerns about the effect of URA expenses on the city's financial position and provides a lot of food for thought on this issue in this report:

http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/inde…

She has also made it clear that the new URA adopted this year - the "Education Zone" - is one of her biggest concerns when it comes to the City's immediate financial decisions and stability.

It would be great for the Merc to dig into this area of city funding. As choices are made for spending and debt in the URAs there needs to be a better sense of how those choices are affecting support for other basic city services - as well as school and county services.
Posted by milagrospdx]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:39:06 -0800 Portland Mercury
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ss…

Isn't something like 50% of tax revenue in Portland / Multnomah County basically swalled up by Urban Renewal debt repayment and pension liabilities?

Speaking of pensions and debt, which state far and away leads the nation in the amount of outstanding pension obligations bonds as a share of revenue? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/business…

Essentially, we sold pension bonds in an arbitrage gamble that the interest payments on the bond would be less than the investment returns. How is that gamble paying off? There's a story here that demands local follow up.
Posted by Babygorilla]]> Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:21:33 -0800 Portland Mercury