Oregon’s Zoo & Convention Center losing revenue

Oregon’s Zoo & Convention Center losing revenue By Oregon Tax News Taxpayer-funded zoos and convention centers across the country are losing money. The Oregon Zoo and Convention Center are no exception. The Portland Business Journal recently cited an independent review conducted by Tampa-based Crossroads Consulting showing the Zoo and Convention Center contributed to a nearly…

READ MORE

Oregon health job loss: OHSU & Legacy

Oregon health job loss: OHSU & Legacy By Oregon Tax News Hundreds of health care related jobs in the Portland Metro area are being cut and more losses could be on the way if state reforms fail to produce savings promised by lawmakers. In mid-December, KPTV reported that Legacy Health Systems plans to cut as…

READ MORE

Boeing & union close to long awaited agreement

By Oregon Tax News, The Boeing Company has avoided another costly strike after a critical deal was struck between executives and union leaders that both are calling a “win-win.” Under an agreement forged last week and ratified by Machinist union members on Wednesday, Boeing will move ahead with a new, non-union plant in South Carolina…

READ MORE

Foreclosures Still Plague Oregon Housing Market

Foreclosures Still Plague Oregon Housing Market Account for One in Three Home Sales By Oregon Tax News Foreclosures continue to flood Oregon’s housing market and accounted for one-third of all home sales this spring. At 33 percent, Oregon’s housing market is in the top 10 in terms of foreclosed homes as a percentage of all…

READ MORE

Does the Post Office need a bailout?

Could a Bailout Save the Postal Industry? By Oregon Tax News, A 2010 GAO report detailed that the U.S. Postal Service is on the brink of an economic meltdown. There have been serious calls to save costs by ending Saturday service and to close nearly 2,000 office. Oregon has over 40 post offices on the…

READ MORE

Looking at worst city ratings

By Oregon Tax News Oregon Tax News recently analyzed the information behind three different worst city ratings which included;”America’s Shrinking Cities List” (by MSNBC), “America’s Most Miserable City List” (Forbes) and “Worst Job Seeker City List” (US & World Report). The four most common factors of being among America’s worst cities were unemployment, high crime,…

READ MORE

Nation breakdown of US debt holdings

By Oregon Tax News, The United States has not seen a balanced budget since 2001, leading to increasing national debt.  Although private banks in the U.S. hold the majority of the country’s debt, over 52% according to MSNBC, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board estimate that foreign governments hold 4.4 trillion of the…

READ MORE

Economy, Aging and Sex Leads to Declining Workforce

Economy, Aging and Sex Leads to Declining Workforce As the Baby Boomer generation reaches retirement age, USA TODAY reports that the working population fell to its lowest level last year since women entered the workforce nearly 30 years ago. In 2010, only 45.4% of Americans had jobs. This rate is down from 49.3% in 2000.…

READ MORE

Review of pending bills

Capital gains tax Oregon has one of the highest capital gains taxes in the nation. There are a few bills in the 2011 Legislature that would reduce these taxes. The issue is cut capital gains taxes is shared by many sides in the State capitol. Governor Kitzhaber has proposed cutting $25 million from capital gains…

READ MORE

Budget solution report offers 100 ideas

100 Ways to Balance the State Budget without new taxes! In light of Oregon facing a budget crisis, the Taxpayer Foundation has issued a master list of budget balancing ideas that do not require raising taxes. These ideas have been collected from Oregon lawmakers, think tank groups, taxpayer organizations, unions, policy analysts, Democrats, Republicans and…

READ MORE