A new report by a coalition of minority groups labels Multnomah County a “uniquely toxic place” for people of color.
Part of the problem: the kicker creates deep budget cuts during economic downturns.
According to this groundbreaking report:
- One in three children of color live in poverty, compared with 12.5 percent for whites.
- People of color earn about half that of white individuals: $16,636 a year compared with $33,095.
- Minorities in Multnomah County fare worse on measures such as child poverty, rent burden, incomes and education than minorities in King County, Washington.
The study found that our failed-revenue system is partly to blame.
Defining economic features of the region include the absence of a sales tax and negligible corporate income taxes. Together, these two revenue choices result in excessive reliance on income taxes as the source for government expenditures, which results in a revenue profile that rises and falls as does the economy. Accordingly, when residents most need services as in today’s economic era, the ability to provide them is most constrained.
Add to this the Oregon tax rebate (called the “kicker”), and governments are impeded by their inability to prevent the crisis situation that today results in cuts to services when the populace most needs them. This kicker returns surplus revenues to residents when taxes collection exceeds official projections, curtailing an ability to “save for a rainy day.”
Read the full report here: