1. Income Distribution
and Revenue
Generation
Q. WHICH IS FAIRER, AN INCREASE IN THE UTILITY
FEE, PROPERTY TAX OR SOME OTHER SOURCE OF
REVENUE GENERATION FOR ADDITIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY
AND PARKS SERVICES?
2. Income Distribution as Basis of
Revenue
Utility Fee
Utility Fee is seen as a service fee and not a tax
Utility Fee is not based on the principle of tax on the valuation of property assets so it is not
seen as a hardship on those on a fixed income
Utility Fee is easier to manage because it is spread over 12 month period by most residents
Utility fee when seen as pay for service when detailed and described become a residence
involvement and feedback process
All pay equally not burdening those in retirement and fixed income which makes up a large
segment of Gresham residents.
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3. Property Tax as Basis for Additional
Revenue Generation
Property Tax
Only the Federal income tax is consistently rated as worse then property tax in opinion polls
Primary reasons public resents property tax:
◦ 1) the taxation of unrealized capital gains by the property tax;
◦ 2) the fact that it is paid in large lump-sum payments by taxpayers;
◦ 3) public anxiety about reappraisal of property values;
◦ 4) inequitable assessment and appraisals
◦ 5) all the issues in an around compression seriously undermine property tax increases
◦ 6) the number of districts/jurisdictions that have taxing authority over a single resident
◦ 7) the method of computing the property tax is arcane and not easily understand by most residents causing
confusion and anxiety
◦ 8) in difficult economic times where wages and income are on the decline it is nearly impossible to pass such
increases without clear examples of direct benefit to residents
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4. Is Gresham Attempting to Solve an
Issue that is Regional and Not
Local?
Metro Government created the concept of Regional Centers for Economic Development
◦ Rockwood Planned as a Regional Center
◦ Downtown Gresham Planned as a Regional Center
Multnomah County
◦ Justice Center
◦ Social Services Responsibility
City of Gresham and State of Oregon Resources Available?
◦ Urban Renewal Performance
◦ Poor Representation
◦ Neighborhood Image
◦ Consequences of Gentrification
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10. SW Neighborhood Meeting on
Proposed Property – 2nd of 3
Meetings
Summary of Meeting at Butler Middle School, Oct 3, 2013
Very poor attendance of residents at meeting. I counted less than ten
Notables in attendance:
◦ Mayor Shane Bemis provided introductory remarks and than excused himself to leave for a prayer meeting
◦ Panel members were Councilors Lori Stegmann, Mario Palmaro, Mike McCormick, Eric Chambers, and Chief of
Police and Fire
◦ In the audience was City Manager, Erik Kvarsten, and a numbers of people from the City Public Relations Staff
◦ Interesting discussion on the city public safety and parks needs, presented by Councilor Stegmann. The part
where Eric Chambers and Carol Rulla discussed the issue of COMPRESSION as it relates to Property Tax hurt
the City’s presentation. The panel needs stronger arguments then that they love the City of Gresham
◦ I gave a short statement about my distributed Power Point with ideas and concerns, and asked the panel to
get back to me. I was surprised that the panel was surprised at the number of households in Rockwood
◦ One attendee from Rockwood talked about the problems in his neighborhood
◦ Another attendee challenged the panel about what results they can expect in their neighborhood based on
increased revenue
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