Novick Sort-Of-Opposes Portland Business Alliance Tax Cut Request

By COREY PEIN

The Portland Business Alliance today released the responses to the questionnaires it sent to City Hall candidates.

Read the responses of the mayoral candidates—Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith—here. Answers from the candidates for Council position 1, Amanda Fritz and Mary Nolan, are here; and Council position 4 candidate Steve Novick's answers are here.

The responses don't reveal many new points of disagreement between the candidates. But here's one:

For years, the PBA has advocated increasing the business owners' compensation deduction on the business license taxes from $85,000 to $125,000.

Brady, Fritz and Nolan say they will support the increased deduction, which would cut in to city revenues at a time when bureaus are preparing cuts of up to 8 percent.

Smith and Hales each offer heavily qualified maybes.

Novick, alone among the City Hall candidates, offers the closest answer to "no.":

"I'd love to," Novick writes, "but I don't know what city services I would cut to make up the lost revenue."

The PBA didn't send questionnaires to a number of no-money candidates who have also filed to run, including Novick's two challengers, Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood Association President Mark White and Office of Neighborhood Involvement program coordinator Jeri Williams.

WWeek 2015

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