April 15, as everyone knows, is Tax Day. The IRS takes the
biggest bite, but what about Oregon?
Given that personal income taxes represent its largest
source of revenue, we wondered what the state would do with
our readers' money this year.
According to a calculation by the Legislative Fiscal Office,
the average WW reader's household will pay the state
$3,243 in income taxes. (We used recent market surveys to
arrive at an average reader's household-income figure [$60,476]
and assumed the household, in an owned home worth $180,000,
consists of two adults and two children.)
The approximate breakdown is as follows:
K-12 Education $1,339 41%
Public Safety $502 15%
Human Services $488 15%
All Other Education $487 15%
Oregon Health Plan $251 8%
Natural Resources $46 1%
All Other Programs $131 4%
So education will consume well over half our average reader's
income-tax dollars, while welfare and other social programs
will take about one-seventh, as will police and corrections.
To make sure the message has gotten through, try this pop
quiz:
1. Currently the largest revenue source for the state
government
budget is...
a. Corporate income taxes
b. Property taxes
c. Personal income taxes
d. Lottery revenues
e. Licenses and fees
2. Currently the largest state government general fund
expenditure
goes to...
a. Public safety (police, corrections, etc.)
b. Human resources (welfare, social programs, etc.)
c. Education
d. Other state expenditures (including natural resources,
economic development, environmental protection, etc.)
3. In terms of state and local taxes as a percent of
family income, Oregon ranks...
a. In the highest 10 states
b. In the second-highest 10
c. In the middle 10
d. In the next 10
e. In the lowest 10
Oregon State University political science professor Robert
Sahr asked 699 Oregonians these three questions a little
more than two years ago. You know the answer to the first
two already. (It's "c" in both cases.) The answer to the
last question, however, may surprise you. As recently as
1993-94, Oregon ranked 18th highest in the nation in terms
of the tax burden placed on families by state and local
taxes. Now, Oregon is 37th. Only 1 percent of Sahr's respondents
answered all three questions correctly; less than a quarter
got two right.
The real problem Oregon faces is the source and amount
of revenue the state has to work with. If our tax burden
remains at the low end, where else but down can our schools,
social services and environmental protections be headed?
Similarly, if the tax burden remains loaded disproportionately
on the shoulders of individuals, how can we ever have meaningful
tax reform?
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 14,
1999 |
