OPINION
Tax Torpor in Salem Reform is not where it should be on Oregon's agenda. Though this week marks the beginning of the season of hope and goodwill, we must admit to a certain absence of both when it comes to Salem and one of the principal challenges facing Oregon. Neither from Oregon's Republican-controlled House and Senate nor from our governor are we hearing much in the way of plans to address Oregon's bankrupt tax code. Few things reveal more about the character of a state than the way it chooses to pay for government services. Oregon's current tax system suggests a state hopelessly wedded to the past. For a host of reasons, Oregon has a tax structure that is outdated, unfair and unstable. Outdated because our tax system fails to capture the real growth in Oregon's economy--the service sector. Unfair because the last decade has witnessed a historic shift in the tax burden away from businesses and onto the shoulders of individuals. Unfair also because the passage of Measure 50 in 1997 created extraordinary inequities in the property-tax system. Unstable because the current tax code relies increasingly on income taxes and decreasingly on property taxes. When the economy sours, tax receipts will drop far faster than they would have when property tax was a more significant source of revenue. How are our leaders addressing these matters? From the Republican leadership, we are hearing calls for a tax cut. From the governor, who has appointed two task forces to look into this state's tax structure and make recommendations, we are not hearing much of anything. Earlier this month one of his task forces issued a draft report that didn't exactly set new standards for bold thinking. It called for a tax on pesticides and fertilizer and the creation of a rainy-day fund. It's not as if there isn't plenty of opportunity to fix a system that virtually everyone agrees is in serious disrepair. Where is the effort to rewrite Measure 50, which has amended the constitution with a system that disconnects the real value of a home from its assessed value? Where is the push to address the historic and unintended shift in the tax burden off businesses, many of which are headquartered out of state, and onto individuals? Where is the push to broaden the tax base, either by addressing the property-tax loopholes that cost Oregon more than $2 billion a biennium in lost revenue or by trying to capture the revenue generated by the growing service sector? And where is the push to provide local school districts with the option to ask voters for more money? Earlier this year, Gov. John Kitzhaber spokesman Bob Applegate told us tax reform was "an editorial board issue that the public doesn't care about." Perhaps. But that doesn't mean we're wrong. Nor does it mean that the governor and the Legislature's complacency is any way to show leadership. Our leaders in Salem claim to be both interested in Oregon's future and willing to face difficult challenges. If they truly cared, they'd be talking about better ways to fund state government.
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