Panel votes to raise property taxes (cut Mortgage Deduction)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The Oregon lawmakers on the Joint Task Force On Addressing Racial Disparities in Home Ownership on 09/09/2022, in a State Capitol Zoom call, voted on a dozen policy recommendation proposals — one such proposal is to eliminate part of the Mortgage Interest Deduction.   The idea is to raise property taxes for some in order to lower property taxes for others.   It must be noted that Oregonians as a whole pay more in property taxes than most Americans.

This proposal comes at the same time the Secretary of State issued a grossly political and biased report this year calling for the elimination of the Mortgage Interest Deduction.   The Secretary of State goes as far as to say giving Oregon homeowners a Mortgage Interest deduction is the single most wasteful use of tax dollars she has ever seen.  Wow.   It appears the $220 million Oregon CRC bridge to nowhere or the $300 million Oregon Obamacare failed website that served not a single customer were not as wasteful of our tax dollars as helping seniors afford their home with a Mortgage Interest Deduction.

This proposal also comes at the same time when Tina Kotek, who has made repealing the Mortgage Interest Deduction a priority since she first became House Speaker in 2012, is running for Governor.

Some of the ideas include reducing the Mortgage Interest deduction for second homes, while others hint at a larger elimination.   Taxpayers will not know until the Legislature takes up the issue in a few months in 2023 and as usual when lawmakers take up a tax issue they do so in at the end of Session when voters aren’t paying attention and when lawmakers are under emergency-expedited rules so the public is provided less public notice.

Here is part of the proposal from the Joint Task Force On Addressing Racial Disparities in Home Ownership that was voted for recommendation.

The panel also included many steps to provide property tax relief.  It will remain to be seen on how it all works out in the final report.

The targeting of the Mortgage Interest Deduction will go through several stages and we pledge to keep you posted.

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