Oregon tax withholdings jump (why?)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

According to the Office of Economic Analysis Oregon wages and tax withholdings are up 5% from July 2022 to July 2023.

Here are some reasons why your wages are going up that you will not likely find in the media.

• Oregon is late to the party.  Oregon was nearly a year behind in re-opening from Covid restrictions than other states.   Our 5% wage boost is part of that recovery, but we could have had that recovery a year earlier.    Florida and Texas re-opened earlier and they are the #1 and #2 best ranked economies for its citizens by CNBC.

• Minimum wage hikes: Oregon has been regularly increasing minimum wage (among nation’s highest).  This mandate pushes up wages.

• Labor shortage:  Oregon continues to face a labor crisis across sectors.  This is artificially forcing employers to pay more for new employees out of desperation.  The Oregon labor crisis was made worse when Oregon was among the select states that continued to pay people more to stay home than to work during Covid.   This labor shortage has distorted several industries.  For instance, it forced hospitals to require nurses to handle more patients.  This caused nurses to strike, which forced hospitals to increase pay and increase staff.  This adds to the fact that hospitals are losing nearly a half-billion in revenue in just one quarter.

• Inflation knocking people into higher brackets.  The 40-year high inflation has pushed many taxpayers into higher tax brackets.

• Cost of living explosion: As we often state, Oregon is ranked the 8th highest cost-of-living state in America because of our high taxes, high gas taxes, high property taxes, high minimum wage and endless marathon of red-tape regulations that drown businesses in costs.   Employers have to pay more just to make it possible for their workers to live here.

While many will be celebrating the rise in Oregon wages, we however take a more complete picture which reveals several negative factors hurting Oregon’s economy.

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