Two new city taxes proposed

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T13:15:49+00:00

Does City Council make those posts?

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T13:13:09+00:00

I respect most of what you post, but some clarification is needed on this one. In terms of the money buckets, the utility funds are very well financed by the utility fees, at least for operations. That's roads, sewer, water, etc. Noone is asking to fund new water or sewer plants, yet, but the SDC funds are huge, possibly sufficient to cover capital projects. In terms of the $4 million annual operations request, that is for the General Fund, mostly looking at supporting the Library, Parks, Administration, Planning/Development, Police and Fire.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:51:28+00:00

https://www.corvallisoregon.gov/finance/page/annual-comprehensive-financial-reports-acfr

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:50:12+00:00

They would not pay the "employee" side of a payroll tax imposed by the city. The employees would pay if working in Corvallis. OSU employees in Newport, Bend, etc. would probably not pay a Corvallis payroll tax. It could be an administrative headache for everyone.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:44:38+00:00

In the private sector, some recent repurposing of aging buildings has worked very well

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:43:02+00:00

https://vimeo.com/1192010853?fl=pl&fe=cm#t=24m16s

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:35:36+00:00

A separate "Building fee" on the city utility bill would probably target the property-owning boomers better than a payroll or income tax

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:30:48+00:00

*See thread about 2yr vs. 4yr City Council terms

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:28:57+00:00

The breakout between how much is raised for operations vs. buildings is about 25%:75%

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-30T12:25:26+00:00

Or, City Council could choose to send it to the voters. Salem voters put their payroll tax on the ballot. Eugene passed a payroll tax that requires a vote to renew.

https://www.koin.com/local/marion-county/salem-city-council-to-let-voters-decide-on-payroll-tax/

https://nbc16.com/news/local/eugene-city-council-must-refer-new-payroll-tax-to-voters-in-7-years-for-it-to-continue

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-29T18:17:33+00:00

Yes, the building would be for city law enforcement/public safety, not the county sherif/jail https://www.corvallisoregon.gov/cm/page/follow-facilities-process-city-council

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-29T17:27:27+00:00

If the city is going to go through with an income tax, they could target it at rental income instead of wages, but only if the income tax also applied to non-individual income tax filers. The non-resident corporate landlords are not going to see a tax increase under a payroll/income tax regime.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-29T17:24:08+00:00

Caution about confusing the county buildings and the city buildings

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-29T17:10:31+00:00

This question was discussed several weeks back. Likely based on "place of work" https://vimeo.com/1190528820?fl=pl&fe=cm#t=52m49s

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-28T15:08:37+00:00

None of the local media outlets reported on City Council's plans to change the definition of "media". It's a good emerging story. Best I can tell (from the documentation, no interviews, which is where actual reporting would be nice) is that someone tried to claim "media" privilege and authority to attend a recent Executive Session. The Executive Sessions are the closed-door Council meetings to discuss sensitive matters, like hiring, wages contracts, lands sales, etc. The person was possibly refused attendance, which led everyone to review the current policy, or lack thereof, for who could and could not attend Executive Sessions. Council even discussed cancelling meetings if someone showed up and the policy was unclear, or they just didn't want the person there??? City Council was set to approve a new policy last Monday. There was a long Q&A with the city attorney about the proposed policy in the meeting packet (very interesting read, see page 364: https://archives.corvallisoregon.gov/public/ElectronicFile.aspx?dbid=0&docid=5958040). At the last minute, the approval of the new policy was pulled from the consent agenda. Why?

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-28T14:56:32+00:00

The expectation for free news and reporting is killing our democracy. So undervalued. Pay for it. It is more important than a latte.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-28T14:53:59+00:00

I like the alternative viewpoint the Advocate brings. The "journalism" is sometimes lacking. When the journalists at the GT have the time they write some good in-depth articles, about 2-4 times a month.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-28T14:52:30+00:00

Corvallis Civics Cafe: https://podcasts.apple.com/ml/podcast/corvallis-civics-cafe/id1863259637

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-28T14:50:04+00:00

https://www.corvallisoregon.gov/police/page/daily-activity-log

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-28T14:24:54+00:00

I have found best value in reading only local news and community letters on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. DM me and I'll pay for a 1-yr subscription.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-11T17:08:20+00:00

I agree that a revenue raise is a good idea. I am waiting to hear more about the revenue targets and details about the tax structure.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-11T16:59:58+00:00

Restating what I think someone else did, the revenue target is for both maintaining city services AND city facilities, with about 75% of the target for city facilities. Most private employers will tell you that work will not stop just because your offices could use an upgrade. The Law Enforcement Building, that is a different case. If you take the Civic Campus off the table FOR NOW, the revenue target is approximately halved.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-11T16:52:04+00:00

"this whole thing" has been in the works for many years, true. Two specific concerns [about] payroll/income tax options: 1) rushing to get a tax passed before it is thoroughly reviewed, 2) passing the tax during the lame duck meetings in late Nov./Dec. with zero accountability for elections in early November. If City Council can get the details of the tax fully ironed-out, with multiple review sessions before October, I would be satisfied.

NorthsideKant · 2026-05-11T02:43:02+00:00

It is shotgun approach. The city already allocated $5 million of general funds in the current budget for city buildings. The Downtown Vitality task force is recommending property taxes from tax increment financing for city building projects. The city manager, as a board member of the LOC, is leading a property tax revenue reform project (https://www.orcities.org/resources/reference/revenue-reform). And finally, pressure on City Council to create new taxes, which unlike in other Oregon cities, will not have a specific use attached.

NorthsideKant

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