National Context and The Passage of Measure 5
Inspired in part by Proposition 13 in the neighboring state of California, Oregon voters placed limits to property tax in the Oregon Constitution in 1990 with the passage of Measure 5. A majority of voters were frustrated by the increase in property taxes attributed to rapidly rising property values in the Portland area. Some attribute this home price inflation to an influx of population in the Portland metro, which is surrounded by an urban growth boundary that limits the supply of developable land. Others observe that the situation was much more complex, pointing to the loose monetary policy pursued by Alan Greenspan, including adjustments to the CPI that measured homeowners equivalent rent instead of actual home price, a recovering economy in the region, and numerous other factors. Measure 5 shifted the burden of school funding to the state (which levies an income tax) and away from counties.
Measure 5 also equalized school funding throughout the state, which meant that schools in rural areas benefited while schools in Portland saw budgets reduced. The budgetary restraints caused by Measure 5 were responsible for funding cuts that were made in public schools and universities budgets.
Read more about this topic: Oregon Tax Revolt
Famous quotes containing the words national, context, passage and/or measure:
“What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility ... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)
“The hard truth is that what may be acceptable in elite culture may not be acceptable in mass culture, that tastes which pose only innocent ethical issues as the property of a minority become corrupting when they become more established. Taste is context, and the context has changed.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“The battle which I witnessed took place in the Presidency of Polk, five years before the passage of Webster’s Fugitive-Slave Bill.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The measure of a master is his success in bringing all men round to his opinion twenty years later.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)