Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 12:00 am
Two measures with tax implications are on this year's ballot. We recommend a split decision: Vote "no" on Measure 59, which essentially could create an unprecedented fiscal crisis in the state so that you could save a buck or two.
But we cautiously recommend a "yes" vote on Measure 56, which would allow property-tax elections in May and November to be decided by a majority of voters.
No other measure on the ballot this year could cause as much harm as Measure 59, which would allow individual Oregon taxpayers an unlimited deduction for federal income taxes on their state returns. The result the first year would be an estimated loss of $360 million in state-government revenue. The second year, we start talking about real money: Losses of $1 billion and beyond.
To its credit, we guess, Measure 59 doesn't have any hidden agenda or unintended consequences: This is the work of people who deeply despise government and want to cripple it. The cuts to higher and lower education in Oregon, to social services, to
economic-development initiatives, to health programs, to public safety, to the state's aging infrastructure, would be immense. Lower-income Oregonians would bear the brunt of these cutbacks.
And what's the return to taxpayers? Opponents of Measure 59 say that three-quarters of Oregon taxpayers would save a dollar or less on their income taxes.
Measure 59 has attracted in opposition a number of groups who rarely see eye-to-eye on issues. But here, business people and union officials, Republicans and Democrats, politicians and working stiffs, all have reached the same conclusion: Measure 59 should be rejected. We agree, and we urge you to vote as you have on similar issues in the past: "No."
As for Measure 56, it would eliminate the so-called "double-majority" requirement in cases when a local property-tax measure is on ballots in May or November. We have reservations about the measure, but we recommend a "yes" vote.
The Oregon constitution requires that these local property-tax measures not only pass muster with more than half the voters who cast ballots, but also that the election turnout be greater than 50 percent. (The only exception to this rule comes in elections held in November of even-numbered years; those elections typically have no problem drawing better than 50 percent turnout.)
Ballot measures at a glance
Here's how the Gazette-Times is suggesting you vote on the various measures on this year's ballot. As we weigh in on other ballot measures, we'll update this list:
• Measure 54, to standardize voting eligibility for school board elections with other elections: Yes
• Measure 55, to change the operative date of redistricting plans and to allow affected legislators to finish their terms in their original districts: Yes
• Measure 56, to allow that property-tax elections in May and November would be decided by a simple majority of voters: Yes
• Measure 57, to increase sentences for drug trafficking and various property crimes and to require addiction treatment for certain offenders: No
• Measure 58, to prohibit teaching a public-school student in a language other
than English for more than two years: No
• Measure 59, to create an unlimited deduction for federal income taxes on individual taxpayers' Oregon income-tax returns: No
• Measure 60, to base teacher pay raises on classroom performance, not seniority: No
• Measure 61, to create mandatory minimum sentences for certain property crimes: No
• Measure 02-65, a city of Corvallis bond measure to pay for remodeling of the senior center and to fund improvements to city parks: Reluctantly, no.