9 big conservative victories in Oregon 2023

By Taxpayer Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

#1. Multnomah County voters reject Capital gains tax.  Even in liberal Multnomah County, voters rejected a Capital gains Tax (#26-238) during the May Primary.   The Taxpayers Association of Oregon was involved.

#2. Salem wage tax goes down 80%.   Salem City Council rammed through a wage tax on all workers (costing many $400-$700) and refused to let voters decide. Taxpayers Association was among the first to help gather signatures to force the issue to go before voters.  Thanks to a broad opposition coalition voters rejected Measure #24-491 by 80%.

#3. Ashland food-drink tax defeated.  Yes, even in liberal Ashland voters were tired off endless taxes.   The Taxpayers Association opposed tax measure #15-214 for which was defeated by a slim margin of 33 votes.

#4. Big taxes thwarted in the 2023 Legislature.  Sneaky Governor Tina Kotek began the year with an astonishing 25% budget increase blow-out plan — but refused to list the taxes she needed to fund her budget increase.  Kotek hoped the lawmakers would do her dirty work by being the first to offer taxes to fund her budget plan.   Instead, lawmakers rejected her budget and went with a smaller one without major taxes.  This is why the Taxpayers Association calls her KoTAX!

#5. Kotek’s hard-alcohol tax defeated.  One tax that Governor Tina Kotek was very proud of and very public in advocating, was to double the surcharge tax on liquor. Kotek planned  to raise $90 million in new taxes.   This tax soon flopped and Kotek had egg on her face.

#6. Tolling plan suspended.   ODOT had planned nearly 8 tolls in the Portland-Metro area, with some tolls costing from $2 to $8 each.   ODOT put biased full-page ads in newspapers asking for public input but only included the positive side of tolling without mentioning how much it would cost and where the tolls would be.    The Taxpayers Association sent out tens of thousands of postcards directing people to ODOT’s feedback page.  A few months later, Governor Tina Kotek announced a two year pause in tolling plans.

#7. Kicker tax refund saved.   Both the House and Senate had their own Kicker-theft bills that they put on the agenda.  The Taxpayers Association blasted out thousands of postcards and emails to save your Kicker Tax Refund.  Both bills were defeated.

Here is the Kicker tax Refund you may be getting in 2024;

#8. Gov. Kotek/Mayor Wheeler call for Portland tax ceasefire.  Governor Kotek and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s Portland Central City Task Force recommendations actually listed a 3-year pause on any new taxes as a top request on how to fix Portland’s problems.   Initially, when the Task Force started, members were floating a sales tax.  At the time, the Taxpayers Association urged our followers to email the Mayor’s office to oppose such a new tax.  Someone listened.  This is a sign that Portland has reached tax overload to the point where politicians cannot overlook it.

#9. Scappoose “sneaker tax” property bond defeated.   Scappoose tried to trick voters into a tax increase by only telling the public about the introductory tax rate of a school bond (#5-296) while failing to disclose that the tax rate DOUBLED a few years later and continues for the most of the duration of the bond.   While the School District used tax dollars to send out biased promotional material for the tax bond in people’s utility bills, the Taxpayers Association flooded the district with tax alert postcards with the truth.  We won!

Why are so many taxes failing in 2023?

For starters, the Taxpayers Association and coalition partners played an important role in most of these 2023 victories.   If people show up and fight, new taxes will be stopped and politicians will balance their budget just like a thousand other cities, counties and states.

Second, the inflation crisis is causing many taxpayers to maxed out on taxes.  They simple cannot afford to live here.   Oregon is losing population.

It is exhausting fighting on so many fronts, but the victory is worth it.

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