Coos County Watchdog


  • Home >>>
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Links
    • Whistle-Blower’s Page
  • Blog >>>
    • Info Blogs
  • Issues >>>
    • Johnson Creek Dam
    • Jury Nullification >
      • Jury Nullification on Facebook
    • More Choices in Bandon
    • NO Bandon Marsh Expansion >
      • Bandon Marsh Expansion on Facebook
    • Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance >
      • S.A.S.O on FB
    • State of Jefferson >
      • State of Jefferson on Facebook
    • The Coos County Charter
    • Urban Renewal Information

Feel-Good Tax Repeal on the Ballot in Coos County

8/20/2018

Comments

 
Picture
Every election seems to come with the promise of more tax increases.  The government never seems to have enough.  Even with record revenues, the Oregon state government finds itself with shortfalls and more unfunded liabilities left for the repayment of future generations.
 
Our own Coos County commissioners are always mulling over new taxes.  The museum tax, the transient tax, the road tax, the marijuana tax and of course the urban renewal tax they are insatiable in their appetite for the people’s money. 
 
In late March of this year, the commissioners bypassed the people and voted unanimously to renew the county’s North Bay Urban Renewal plan, which has the potential of going into thirty-two million dollars of debt.
 
The commissioners give the same cheesy excuse that only the people living in the UR area are paying the UR tax, but that is a half-truth.
 
It is true that only the property owners in a UR area pay their property taxes directly to that area’s UR agency over the frozen tax base.  Anything over the frozen base is the increment of taxes that goes to finance the UR agency, hence the term tax-increment financing. 
 
However, those tax dollars were supposed to go to several other overlapping taxing districts to cover the cost of the services provided by those districts. 
 
Everyone in the county uses the services provided by those districts, including the owners of the properties inside the UR area.  When taxpayers of the property inside the UR taxing area do not pay for the services they are using because the system has redirected the money to the UR agency, other taxpayers in the other overlapping countywide districts have to cover the cost of those expenses.  Therefore, everyone who pays property taxes in Coos County pays taxes directly or indirectly for the debt accrued by all seven urban renewal areas that exist in the county through this process of tax increment financing. 
 
Otherwise, property owners would not see UR taxes listed on their tax bill. 
 
The county loses $3 million annually in tax revenue to urban renewal, which represents 5% of the total amount of property taxes collected in the county.  Multnomah County, which is essentially Portland, dedicates about 25% of their total annual property taxes to urban renewal, and their number one complaint is affordable housing, which is partially due to TIF. 
 
There is no such thing as free money. 
 
Since the politicians are going to use most of this money to facilitate the development of private corporations, it then comes down to a simple question.
 
Should the government use public tax dollars to gamble on private development or should corporations gamble with their own money?
 
Politicians are neither lucky nor skillful enough to be rolling the dice with the people’s money, and that includes the three political hacks currently serving on this county’s Board of Commissioners.  
 
People rarely get a chance to rescind an ordinance that continues a tax, and once the government enacts a tax, it is impossible to stop.  In the November election, the people will have a chance to repeal the county’s urban renewal plan and the tax debt that goes along with it. 
 
The voters of Coos County should take advantage of this possibly once in a lifetime experience and vote yes to repeal. VOTE YES for Measure 6-168 and feel-good about repealing a tax because it is the right thing to do. 
 
Anyone interested in finding out more information on urban renewal and tax-increment financing can go to www.CoosCountyWatchdog.com.  

Oregon Catalyst: Feel Good Tax Repeal on the Ballot
Related Posts:
Coos County Commissioners Approve Tax Free Living in Bay Area Enterprise Zone
Coos County Clerk Certifies Petition to Repeal the North Bay Urban Renewal Plan
Commissioners Cribbins & Sweet Deserve Public Reprimand for Deception
Commissioner's URA Vote Triggers Tax Referendum ~ Meeting on Friday the 13th
Coos County Considering Ordinance to Extend UR Tax Debt March 27, 2018
Board of Commissioners Postpones Vote on Coos County Urban Renewal Agency
​Update on The Campaign to Shut Down the Coos County Urban Renewal Agency
Coos County Public Hearing on Extending the Urban Renewal Tax Debt Dec. 13, 2017
The Continuing Saga of the Coos County Urban Renewal Agency
​Coos County Board of Commissioners FINAL VOTE on Extending the URA Debt
Information on the Campaign to Shut Down the Coos County Urban Renewal Agency
Coos County Proposed Ordinance Adopting North Bay UR Plan ~ FOREVER
Coos County Commissioners Hearing on Extending the Debt of the North Bay URA
Cribbins & Sweet Utilize Voter Suppression on Urban Renewal Extension

Comments

    Categories

    All
    A.F.P.
    Agenda 21
    Bandon
    B.I.A.
    B.L.M.
    Coos Bay
    Coos County
    Coos County
    Coquille
    County Charter
    Curry County
    C.W.A.
    Democratic Party
    D.E.Q.
    Eco Devo
    Eco Devo
    Economic Development
    Educational
    Elections
    E.P.A.
    F.D.A.
    F.E.M.A.
    Individual Rights
    I Spy Radio
    Jury Nullification
    Legislation
    Letter To Editor
    Mary Geddry
    N.D.A.A.
    News Wave
    N.O.A.A.
    North Bend
    O&C Land
    O.D.F.W.
    O.D.O.T.
    O.F.F.
    O.H.A.
    O.P.R.D.
    O.R.C. Mining
    O.W.E.B.
    P.E.R.S.
    Petitions
    Port Of Coos Bay
    Public Comments
    Public Events
    Regulation
    Republican Party
    S.A.O.V.A.
    State Of Jefferson
    The Bandon Marsh
    The Economy
    The Rob Taylor Report
    The Supreme Court
    The Tea Party
    Urban Renewal
    U.S.A.C.E.
    U.S.D.A.
    U.S.F.S
    U.S.F.W.S.

    Sign-Up Now to Stay Informed

    * indicates required

    View previous campaigns.

    Send Letters to:
    ​cooscountywatchdog@gmail.com​

    Disclaimer: Letters to the Editor and other opinions published in The Coos County Watchdog blog are not necessarily the views of the Editor, Publisher, or possible anyone else in their right mind.  The Watchdog reserves the right to edit, omit, or copy any and all submissions. 
    Letters to the Editor must be attributed with a name, address, and contact phone number. 

    WARNING:
    Political correctness is not practiced on this
    page & some content is inappropriate

    RSS Feed


    Archives

    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from DieselDemon