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The city of Portland really doesn’t want you to know which companies are paying its new 1% sales tax on large retailers.
The Portland Clean Energy Fund collects that tax from retailers with sales of more than $1 billion. That’s around 500 companies, the City Budget Office says. The money funds projects designed to blunt the impacts of climate change, from installing solar panels on roofs to handing out free bicycles, and thanks to a surprisingly hot economy, it’s receiving way more tax dollars than expected: a projected $1.3 billion over the next five years. It’s so much, in fact, that Commissioner Carmen Rubio is attempting to divert proceeds into cash-strapped city bureaus.
It’s only natural that reporters grew curious which big-box retailers are making that kind of bank. But the city has long held that the financial information of taxpayers is not a public record.
When an Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter recently requested records of who pays the PCEF tax, the city denied the request, citing various taxpayer privacy laws. But the Multnomah County district attorney told the city to hand over the list anyway.
Rather than do so, the city last week sued the reporter. Mayor Ted Wheeler says he’s just following the law and that he “takes the confidentiality of all taxpayer records very seriously.”
Well, some of them at least. The city is more than happy to say who isn’t paying the tax. Here’s a list of companies the city has recently taken to Multnomah County Circuit Court demanding payment.
Taxpayer: Office Depot LLC
Year unpaid: 2019
Amount owed: $388,076.32
What the company says: The Florida-based office supply retailer has been downsizing in recent years, closing more than 200 stores since its stock price bottomed out in 2020. It still has a $2 billion market cap, however, and retains two stores in Portland. The company has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
Taxpayer: Forever 21 Retail Inc.
Year unpaid: 2020
Amount owed: $161,099.29
What the company says: The pioneering L.A. fast fashion retailer declared bankruptcy in 2019 and was sold in a fire sale. It hasn’t updated its state business filings since 2021. But its outpost in the Lloyd Center Mall remains open. The company has not responded to the lawsuit.
Taxpayer: The GEO Group Inc.
Years unpaid: 2019, 2020
Amount owed: $47,947.39
What the company says: GEO, one of the world’s largest private prison operators, has made headlines recently for poor conditions at its immigrant detention centers. It doesn’t operate any prisons in Oregon so it’s not clear what exactly it was selling. But the company has long had a Portland presence. One of its employees bailed out a Proud Boy here in 2019. And, recently, it’s been hiring here for an immigrant surveillance subsidiary that provides “government agencies a complete continuum of electronic monitoring technologies.” Last month, the company filed legal paperwork requesting additional time to respond to the city’s lawsuit. Its attorney declined to comment to WW.
Taxpayer: The Children’s Place Inc.
Years unpaid: 2020, 2021, 2022
Amount owed: $44,511.03
What the company says: The New Jersey-based children’s apparel company has been executing a “successful structural reset into a digital first retailer” over the past few years. In other words, the former Lloyd Center Mall tenant is closing stores left and right. Its nearest brick-and-mortar presence is now a Gymboree outlet in Woodburn. It has not filed paperwork responding to the city’s lawsuit.