(tax day) 9 ways your tax $$ are wasted

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Here are 10 ways your tax dollars are wasted:

#1. GOV. KOTEK PAMPERING HERSELF

• Kotek concert tickets. State auditors faulted Oregon Governor Tina Kotek for spending $550 in tax dollars on concert tickets for herself and others to attend three separate concerts. Her office also spent $63 on movie tickets. (Yahoo News 1/8/25).

• $200,000 event for ’Kotek’s wife: Oregon Governor Tina Kotek spent $200,000 of taxpayer dollars hiring a consulting firm to put on a one-day mental-health conference that heavily featured Kotek’s wife. The $200,000 conference drew only 28 attendees — that’s $7,100 per attendee! (Oregonian 8/2/24)

• Kotek’s $9,330 taco-tostada party for government employees. Kotek’s government employee appreciation event went against ethics guidelines. (Oregon Capitol Chronicle 1/8/25)

#2. LAVISH GOVERNMENT PARTIES

• $75,000 zoo party: Oregon’s regional transit agency, Tri-Met, spent an astonishing $75,029 for an employee appreciation event at the zoo. This is at the same time the agency (1) is facing a $300 million shortfall, (2) just raised bus ticket prices by double digits, and (3) increased the transit payroll tax in 2025. That transit payroll tax is a tax on wages, regardless if you use transit or not. This regional transit payroll tax is not to be confused with the (.1%) statewide payroll transit tax, which is the only such statewide transit tax in the nation. (KATU 11/15/25)

•   Talent show, goat therapy event: Four Portland city agencies (water, transportation, public works, and parks) spent an estimated $11,589 on a city employee appreciation party featuring a talent show and therapy goats. A spokesperson said the $11,000 party was “modest” and was needed to help employees “connect” to each other. At the same time the party was held, one of the agencies warned that it was laying off 50 employees due to cuts. (Willamette Week 9/16/25)

#3. WILD AND WASTEFUL GOVERNMENT TRAVEL

• $200,000 for Kotek and staff to travel to Asia to promote Oregon. We could not find a single news article or public relations activity to complement their core mission during their long 14-day trip. (OPB 9/25/25)

• $46,100 European trip for politicians to study car-free cities. Three Portland City Councilors, along with staff, flew to Vienna to study government-controlled housing programs and car-free cities. (Oregonian 9/18/25)

• $91,000 Hawaii travel for sewer agency meetings. Various public sewer officials in Washington County helped to create a separate Oregon-based sewer organization and then directed it to host their information meetings in Hawaii (2,600 miles away from where both organizations were located). Some staff stayed at $1,000/night beachfront luxury hotels. (Oregonian 11/21/25)

#4. HALF BILLION TAX SUBSIDY FOR BLAZERS WHO DON”T PAY PROPERTY TAXES.

• Blazers to get half-billion in tax funds. Gov. Kotek signed SB 1501, which provides $365 million in taxpayer assistance to remodel the Blazer Rose Garden. Multnomah has pledged $88 million, and Portland $120 million to the project. If the franchise is so successful, why does it need a taxpayer bailout for what is a private, high-cost entertainment event?

#5. MEDICAID ABUSE

• Oregon mis-spending of critical health care Medicaid funds exposed on national TV. Oregon raised 77 health care fees in 2022, while the same politicians waste it on cooking classes, air conditioners, and mini-fridges.

#6. LAVISH BENEFITS FOR NON-CITIZENS

•  $29 million migrant hotel. Oregon spent nearly $30 million on an airport hotel to house 469 illegal migrants at a cost of $61,833 each. The program soon became too popular, as one California non-profit directed its illegal immigrants to travel to Oregon for the free hotel service. Eventually the program closed for lack of funding. (Oregonian 2/9/24)

• $30,000 for noncitizens to buy a home. A government-funded program, Hacienda, advertised $30,000 grants for first-time buyers, but its first condition stated that the program was “Only for people who are not American citizens.” Under backlash, the program rescinded the condition, describing it as a mistake. See photo on front for example. (NY Post 8/24/24)

#7. EXPENSIVE HAND-OUTS THAT SUBSIDIZE BAD LIFESTYLES

• Free $1,000 checks to criminal homeless. Kotek’s new pilot program, Direct Cash Transfer Plus, gives homeless young people monthly checks of $1,000. The program’s list of first priorities includes non-citizens and people with criminal backgrounds over citizens and those with clean records.
(OPB 1/26/24)

• Government keeps people addicted by handing out free drug supplies: Independent reporter, Kevin Dahlgren, interviewed this Portland drug addict who confessed that it is hard to stop taking drugs when the City pulls up to your homeless camp with free drug supplies. The addiction crisis costs taxpayers millions.

#8 SUBSIDIZING RESTAURANTS

• $10 million for mega-restaurant. The taxpayer-funded James Beard Food Court is delayed and over budget by millions. The Celebrity Food Court has received a $10 million grant from the State of Oregon. That will not help much since the project is $15 million over budget. Already nearby is another food court, The Flock, which is taxpayer subsidized. (KGW 1/17/25)

#9 SUBSIDIZING HOTELS

• Taxpayers subsidized a $700 million Ritz-Carlton hotel that went bankrupt. The most expensive hotel in Oregon received tax breaks and went bankrupt within the first year of opening. The newly built food court next to the hotel also received tax breaks. (Oregonian 4/9/25)

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