 |
  |
|
 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
Saving
Schools, Locally In this political season, the politicians are falling over each other to proclaim themselves the education candidate. It's like kissing babies. But Eugene City Councilors have the opportunity to do more than talk. They could pass a local business and/or personal income tax to directly reduce class sizes. Four years ago voters in Eugene passed a $30 million city property tax to bail out local schools suffering from a decade of failed state funding. But this year the state courts overturned the tax, finding it subject to Measure 5 property tax limitations. But a city business and/or personal income tax measure would apparently suffer no such limitations. In fact, Multnomah County used an income tax for years to keep class sizes low in its schools without legal challenges. A business or personal income tax would also have the advantage of being able to directly fund academics and reduce class sizes. The previous property tax measure was limited to non-core school services in a failed attempt to steer clear of Measure 5. "That's a good idea," said Councilor Bonny Bettman when asked about a local business or income tax for schools. "I would be enthusiastic to take a look at that." Bettman sent an email to fellow councilors and the mayor last week requesting a work session on the issue. "If an income or business tax for schools does not leave the city legally vulnerable, then I could support it wholeheartedly as long as that money went directly to the classroom," she said. "I appreciate Bonny looking at that as an option," 4J Superintendent George Russell said. Russell said that before the recent court ruling, the district was planning on asking the city to renew the city property tax for schools. Local schools have struggled for years to keep classes manageable in the midst of falling state funding. Oregon now has the second largest class sizes for elementary schools in the nation. "Obviously, we can always use the money," said Russell. "I'm interested in discussing [the proposal]," said Eugene Councilor Betty Taylor. Mayor Kitty Piercy said, "I'm always interested in us supporting our schools." Asked if he'd like to learn more about the income/business tax option, Russell said, "I sure would." Eugene has many legal options when it comes to business and/or income taxes to replace the $8 million a year in overturned property taxes for schools. For example, a package of non-property taxes could easily generate the funding, according to earlier city tax studies. A progressive surcharge on state income taxes for those earning more than $100,000 a year (beginning at 2 percent and increasing to 4 percent for incomes over $500,000) would generate roughly $5 million per year. A 0.014 percent tax on gross business receipts would raise about an additional $1.5 million per year. A 10 percent surcharge on state corporate excise taxes could raise the remaining $1.5 million per year. Besides being free from Measure 5, such a tax package would have the advantage of being more progressive and fair. In Oregon property taxes hit the poor about three times harder than the rich, according to studies of taxes as a percent of income by the Center for Tax Justice (CTJ). In contrast, income taxes in Oregon hit the wealthy about twice as hard as the poor, according to CTJ. Oregon's business taxes are among the lowest in the nation, according to studies by the Oregon Public Employees Union. About 23 percent of the current city levy goes to students from outside Eugene. A local income tax could address that inequity by including income earned in Eugene by non-city residents. Such a school tax package could face some political hurdles. A business/wealthy tax could face opposition from conservatives. But Portland's economy boomed even with local business and income taxes, and Eugene voters have a long history of strongly supporting taxes for schools. A recent 4J levy passed with 72 percent support. Some city leaders and staffers may not want to share with schools — giving funding for new streets, developer subsidies and a new city hall a higher priority than kids. A city school tax could also be seen as competing with 4J's ability to ask voters for another facilities bond and, possibly, another local option levy. But the facilities measure would only pay for buildings, a lower priority than smaller class sizes for many. Also, an additional 4J local option levy could only raise about $2 million to $3 million. Another argument could be to wait for the state Legislature to provide additional funding. But local schools have been waiting for that for more than a decade, to no avail.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
