Lane County residents and businesses are planning to protest a new income tax – one that has been proposed before but always voted down.
If the measure passes, Lane County will be the only county in Oregon with an income tax, but if it fails, the city will come up short on funds for public safety.
The Public Safety Income Tax (Ordinance 2-07) will impose a 1.1 percent tax on personal, non-resident and business income, and will be dedicated to public safety only. Ordinance 2-07’s predecessor, ballot measure 20-114, was to impose a 2 percent income tax and lost in November 2006, 51 to 49 percent.
County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 21 enacted the ordinance by a 3-2 vote, circumventing any public vote by Lane County residents.
That action was undertaken when the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act of 2002 , which provided Lane County with $27,334,274.65 in funding for public government, expired. On Sept. 30, 2006, the SRS authorization ended.
Unless Lane County receives a four-year extension, meant to phase out existing payments, the income tax will be directed at replacing these funds for Lane County.
“The tax was resuscitated because the needs are still present. We have a public safety system that is still woefully inadequate and criminals have a get out jail free card when the DA doesn’t have the resources to prosecute,” Bobby Green, north Eugene commissioner and supporter of the tax measure, said in an e-mail. “Even with the loss of SRS, Lane County still have a financial structural deficit.”
The political action committee We Said No gathered nearly 1,000 signatures more than the necessary 5,577 to place the income tax’s future in the hand of the public on the May 15 ballot. The group is holding a rally Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon on the Ferry Street Bridge to protest the tax and to support the recall of Commissioner Green.
“Their job is to balance the budget and public safety should be on the top of their list. All they really do is keep coming back saying ‘we need more money, we need more money,’” said Bob Hooker, a director of We Said No.
Public safety includes programs to protect people from criminal activity, mental health and crime victim services, alcohol and drug treatment, the sheriff, youth services and district attorney departments
Commissioner Peter Sorenson, one of the two dissenting votes, feels one of the problems of the measure is the lack of taxing based on income.
“Ernie Kent, Dave Frohnmayer and Peter Sorenson are all going to pay the same amount, and that is fundamentally unfair,” Commissioner Sorenson said. “We should balance the budget with the money we have and not go out and ask the residents of the county for more money.”
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