You wanted a vote on street funding, Portland? Well, now you've got it.
Voters in May will be asked to approve a temporary gas tax -- Oregon's most expensive, at a dime per gallon -- to pay for safety improvements and paving projects to help patch up the city's rumbly roads.
The tax would raise an estimated $64 million over four years, but it's fate is far from certain.
Although the Portland City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to send the tax to the May 17 ballot, the petroleum industry vowed a strong opposition campaign. And city officials have already acknowledged a challenge, with early polling suggesting only tepid support from voters.
But the decision to move forward with a gas-tax vote marked the final twist in a two-year saga over how to help pay for street improvements, one that began with controversy in 2014 when Mayor Charlie Hales and Commissioner Steve Novick pushed for a new street fee without a public vote.
"Today, we've achieved something that some people probably thought couldn't happen," Commissioner Nick Fish said. "Which is: You've found a path forward."
Is approved, the gas tax would raise an estimated $35.8 million for paving projects and $28.2 million for safety projects, sidewalks and bike lanes. Tax collections would begin no earlier than September and would expire after four years, with a strong likelihood that the City Council would ask voters to renew or increase the tax.
The tax would apply to all gasoline and diesel sales, although commercial trucks that pay a separate weight tax would be exempt.
Officials promised to create a citizen oversight committee and pledged to spend 56 percent of revenues on street repairs and 44 percent on safety projects, no matter how much money they ultimately collect. They also released a list of potential paving projects, plus a specific list of safety efforts -- which includes $8 million for projects near schools, $6.4 million for sidewalks on Southwest Capitol Highway and four east Portland routes, and $2.8 million for bike projects in the central city.
A steady stream of advocates offered conditional support during a two-hour hearing Tuesday, with many emphasizing the need to make safety improvements in east Portland. A lobbyist for the Portland Business Alliance also endorsed the vote but called on the City Council to maintain existing funding for street repairs.
Even if approved, the new tax money would amount to a Band-Aid for Portland's crumbling roads. Following decades of inattention by city leaders, more than half of city streets have now deteriorated into poor or very poor condition. Officials say they'd need nearly $1.2 billion over 10 years to bring streets up to city benchmarks.
"We are here because we need to do something," Hales said. "It is our problem."
A gas tax emerged as a preferred option last fall after various City Hall plans fell apart, even though the tax requires a public vote. At the time, Novick released polling suggesting 55 percent of voters might support it. Now, he said, more recent polling suggests the number could be up to 63 percent.
"That means you have to run a real campaign," Novick told The Oregonian/OregonLive after the vote. "But it means you've certainly got a shot. So we're gonna have a good campaign and we'll see what happens."
But Paul Romain, a lobbyist for the Oregon Fuels Association, promised a fight. Romain said his group would first challenge the wording of the city's ballot measure in Multnomah County Circuit Court, then rally against it during the election season.
"There will be a very broad coalition opposing this at the ballot in May, I can guarantee you that," he warned.
Undeterred, members of the City Council savored the moment. As has become a custom since Novick joined the City Council in 2013, Portland officials evoked classic rock lyrics or songs as part of their vote.
Fish likened the decision, with all its twists and turns, to The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road."
Novick offered lyrics from a recently departed musical icon, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, who co-wrote "Take it Easy."
"We may lose, we may win," he said, "but we will never be here again."
-- Brad Schmidt
503-294-7628
@cityhallwatch