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I never thought I'd be saying this, because I love Oregon history and I'm a bleeding heart liberal who votes Yes for everything if it's for the common good--but why Multnomah County?  I think it's crucial to save the Oregon Historical Society, but if this is a metropolitan resource, why aren't Washington and Clackamas counties chipping in?  Or what about applying for federal funding, since Oregon Trail history is of national importance?

I moved to Oregon just as the state voted in the property tax rollback, which started the downslide in public service funding.  I always wondered why this hurt the state, since everyone I know has much higher property taxes as a result of the "rollback."  Although I support the idea of wealthier counties supporting poorer counties for equity across the state, it doesn't seem right that my taxes are $1000 to $2000 higher than my neighbors across the county line who can send their kids to much better schools.  And in this case, it's more than unfair--for only one county to pay for a statewide resource is ridiculous.  You can't even call this a progressive tax.  We're already asked to pile on lots of levies in Multnomah County, all of which I have supported.  I just can't support this, as much as I really want to.  As important as this is, the OHS needs to come up with some better way of funding this. 

By the way, I am not wealthy--I'm a single mom who earned close to poverty level for the last several years, thanks to the economy.  However, my property taxes are nearly as high as my mortgage payments.  By the time my mortgage term ends, I will have spent so much on property taxes that I could have paid off my loan twice over with that same amount of money.

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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