HJR 201/HB 4075 State property tax to fund public safety

02/08/2024
HJR 201
VOTE:NO
Both Died In Committee

Status (overview) of bill:https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Measures/Overview/HJR201
Committee assigned to bill:https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Committees/HRULES/Overview

This bill is a disguised state property tax outside the limits for property taxes in the name of public safety.

Proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution requiring the Legislature to create an administrative authority for funding public safety in this state. Directs the Legislature to impose a state property tax to fund public safety in this state. Allows the Legislature to delegate to the administrative authority the authority to implement the tax. Provides that the tax would not be subject to Article XI, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution (Ballot Measure 50) (1997), or Article XI, section 11b, of the Oregon Constitution (Ballot Measure 5) (1990). Refers the proposed amendment to the people for their approval or rejection at the next regular general election. 

The state property tax may be imposed on an annual basis at a rate not to exceed
$0.25 per $1,000 of the value of the property as assessed under law. The state’s average home value is $468,000. That’s $117 added property tax to 1,798,864 housing units yielding $210,467,088.

Laws enacted by the Legislative Assembly pursuant to this section to implement the
state property tax may also:
(A) Set rates that vary according to reasonable classifications of property and taxpayers;
and
(B) Provide for exemption, partial exemption or special assessment of certain reasonable
classifications of property or taxpayers. (Exemptions always creates an unequal fairness.)

Were the riots a setup for this new tax? Repeal Measure 110 and it would be a good start to public safety.

HJR 201 would:

• We can’t afford it!  Oregonians already pay higher taxes than most states.
• Removes current local control over property taxes from Counties/Cities by allowing new statewide property tax scheme without limits.
• This would allow Portland politicians to raise property taxes on rural Oregonians for their reckless spending.
• Removes current Constitutional limits on property tax rates (Measure 5) and assessment rates (Measure 50) with sneaky exceptions.
• Risk throwing seniors, the disabled and other limited income Oregonians out of their homes as property taxes become limitless.
• HJR 201 would be a referral to voters, because that is the only way politicians can remove/tinker with current Constitutional property tax limits that protect home owners.

HB 4075 implements HJR 201, if it is passed by voter, by establishing a task force. x. Specifies that revenues from tax must be deposited in equal amounts in two funds, one for public safety inside and one for public safety outside the wildland-urban interface, and that 80 percent of revenues must fund local public safety and 20 percent must fund state level public safety. Requires plan to include baseline minimum funding level for each local public safety body.

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Comments

  1. Renters in Oregon need to understand that property taxes DO affect their rent cost. If property taxes rise, the landowner will raise the cost of rentals. It’s not the fault of the land lord if legislation raises property taxes. In addition, this gives way too much power to the state to levy taxes and will never end. Our law enforcement should be kept with the bounds of local control, being financed through counties and cities.

  2. Are they trying to fix this Over appropriated Retirement PLAN that is the result of a Over Regulated Economy ? If you are going to restrict growth for climate change reasons then you must restrict pension plan contributions and Over Taxation without Representation enters into this equation as well !!!!

    Oregon’s public pension fund lost money last year. Taxpayers may be on the hook for it

    The state’s unfunded liability for PERS, the amount needed to cover every public worker’s pension, grew by $8 billion last year — reaching a total of $28 billion.

    https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/the-story/oregon-pers-unfunded-liability-public-pension-treasury-investments/283-65dbb743-725a-4aa0-a3f0-c5b5b47f8c5d#:~:text=The%20state's%20unfunded%20liability%20for,a%20total%20of%20%2428%20billion.&text=PORTLAND%2C%20Ore.,sitting%20at%20roughly%20%24103%20billion.

    Please send to Legislators .

  3. The Oregon Legislature needs to have a Debate about if this Property TAX increase is Taxation without Representation , because Public Safety is Broadly Stated , and we need Clarification so this Tax Increase is properly Represented ????

    The Legislative Body needs to hold a debate about if this Property Tax Increase is so they can change PERS investment away from the Fossil Fuel Investments they have like this and try to change Trajectory of PERS Underfunded Debt load ; https://oregoncitizenslobby.org/taxes-fees/hjr-201-state-property-tax-to-fund-public-safety/

    This talks about the Fossil Fuel Investment ;
    https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-invested-in-fossil-fuel/283-3150a2dc-2ddf-4da1-a99d-86c8a4e63ef9

    This talks about the PERs Underfunded accounts ;
    https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/the-story/oregon-pers-unfunded-liability-public-pension-treasury-investments/283-65dbb743-725a-4aa0-a3f0-c5b5b47f8c5d#:~:text=The%20state's%20unfunded%20liability%20for,a%20total%20of%20%2428%20billion.&text=PORTLAND%2C%20Ore.,sitting%20at%20roughly%20%24103%20billion.

    Please include this to the Legislator

  4. When you read this Oregon Live article it talks about how PERS payouts need a new Financial Advisory Counsel , and Legislators need to debate this mismanagement of Pension allocations , and needs clarification before Oregon Citizens have to bare the costs these mismanagement practices with property taxes like the Street Roots talks about as a potential solution !!!!

    https://www.streetroots.org/news/2022/08/25/pensions

    Look up how much Oregon PERS retirees receive in pension pay
    https://www.oregonlive.com/data/2022/03/look-up-how-much-oregon-pers-retirees-receive-in-pension-pay.html

    Please send this to Legislators for Debate Today .

    • Tony, it’s hard to tell which bill you are writing about. Please submit your testimony for the appropriate bill by following these directions;
      1. Click on the link at the top of this bill alert by “status (overview) of bill”
      2. On the next page, click on the “Submit Testimony” tab (it’s last on the right)
      3. On the next page, fill in the 5 required fields (they have an asterisk (*) by them)
      4. Then click on either “text testimony” or “upload a PDF.”
      5. You can then type in what you want to say.

      The link above is for HJR 201,
      Here’s the link for HB 4075 -https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024R1/Measures/Overview/HB4075

  5. This is poorly written about safety. Not Wildfire prevention and payments to watch things burn. Need to take the gates down off of all the roads in the woods so that the roads are used and not overgrown and they’ll become fire blocks like they were designed to be in a good area to travel to get to the fire to put it out when the smokes first seen. The only reason we have the word wildfire is because these roads are blocked and no one in the area can put the fire out when it’s small. We don’t have a revenue problem it’s a management problem and more money is not going to solve it take down the gauge you’ll see no more wildfires

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