Illinois Valley News

Oregon voters will decide on a pair of tax measures with the vote-by-mail special election that has a ballot deadline of Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Ballots must reach the Josephine County Clerk“s Office by 8 p.m. the 26th. They also can be placed in the ballot box outside Cave Junction City Hall until 8 p.m. on election day.

Facing a growing budget shortfall, the Legislature voted last year to raise parts of the state“s personal and corporate income tax rates. Conservative and business groups gathered enough signatures to refer the hikes to voters, which resulted in measures 66 and 67.

If passed, Measure 66 would raise the tax on incomes at or above $250,000 for households and $125,000 for individuals. It would raise an estimated $472 million in revenues for the state during its first year.

Measure 67 would raise the corporate minimum tax from $10 to $150; increase the tax rate that some corporations pay on profits by 1.3 percentage points; and increase certain business filing fees. It would raise an estimated $255 million in its first year of implementation.

Representatives of both sides of the tax debate got to state their cases during the Wednesday, Jan. 13 KAJO Radio talk show based in Grants Pass.

Speaking in opposition to the measures, seeking a “No“ vote, was J.L. Wilson, vice president of Associated Oregon Industries (AOI).

Wilson said that despite its budgetary woes, the state government“s all-funds budget still increased by $4.5 billion. He added that while 131,000 private sector jobs were lost, the state added more than 5,000 employees.

AOI proposed a temporary two-year tax in exchange for a reduction in the capital gains tax and reconnection to the federal tax code, Wilson said, but was “summarily rejected“ by legislators.

“They couldn“t care less about what business had to say,“ Wilson said. “We found that attitude to be prevalent during the session.“

Wilson said that if Measure 66 passes, Oregon will have the highest personal income tax rate in the country, at 11 percent, for the taxpayers who would be affected.

“This is basically targeting two and a half percent of Oregonians,“ he said, noting that more than 70 percent of those taxpayers are employers.

Measure 67 was characterized by Wilson as the “worst possible tax.“ He said that if passed, it would make Oregon“s the highest corporate minimum tax in the nation, which would be 20 times more than the next highest.

Most states don“t have a corporate minimum tax, Wilson said. Of the 20 that do have one, 18 have a flat fee averaging around $200.

Wilson said that there are other downsides to 67.

“There is not a single company that makes money in this state that pays the $10 corporate minimum tax,“ Wilson said. “The minimum tax is only there for companies that have no taxable income: that is, they operate in the red.“

Steve Novick, an attorney and former U.S. Senate candidate, represented Vote Yes for Oregon, a group supporting the ballot measures.

Novick said that Measure 66 raises taxes “slightly on the richest 2.5 percent of tax filers.“ He added that a couple making $250,000 per year would pay an additional $200 in annual taxes.

Money raised through the measures would go toward education, health care and public safety, Novick said, which make up 90 percent of the state budget.

Measure 66 would exempt the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits received by Oregon residents in 2009 from taxation, Novick said.

Approximately 4,500 Josephine County residents would realize that tax cut, Novick said, while perhaps 450 would see a tax hike.

“There are about 10 times as many people in Josephine County that will get a tax cut under Measure 66 than will get a tax increase,“ he said.

Novick said that under Measure 67, some 90 percent of Oregon companies would see their corporate minimum tax rise from $10 to $150.

“That“s it,“ Novick said.

Passage of Measure 67 would bring Oregon from the third- to the fifth-lowest business tax rate in the nation, Novick said. He added that there are approximately 104 corporations that do $100 million in Oregon sales that are only scheduled to pay the corporate minimum tax.

Of those companies, Novick said, 77 are based out of the state.

Failure of the measures could mean cuts of as much as $2.8 million for Grants Pass School District 7 and $2.6 million for Three Rivers School District, Novick said.

Aside from that, an estimated 7,000 Oregonians could lose mental health-care services, Novick said, and Oregon Project Independence could be eliminated. The program provides in-home health care to around 3,000 elderly residents throughout Oregon.

“Those are the services that are going to be affected,“ Novick said.

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