To: The Oregon State House and The Oregon State Senate
Restore local control of school funding and end the Measure 5 limits
For more than two decades, Measure 5 has hamstrung our schools, creating an absurd system that doesn't allow voters local control of school funding. We support HJR 8, which would allow voters to approve local option levies above Measure 5 limits to pay for better schools, public safety, health care, and human services.
Why is this important?
Oregon voters are hamstrung when it comes to funding schools and other vital services.
Under Oregon's Measure 5, an artificial limit on local revenue for schools and services - called “compression” - means that even if voters approve temporary levies to fund their local schools and services, taxes cannot exceed the arbitrary and outdated Measure 5 limits.
As a result, schools receive only a fraction of the voter-approved funding. Even worse, neighbors with the same assessed value on their house can pay completely different amounts into the levy. And even worse? A vote to raise funding for, say, the public library can mean a cut in funding for schools or other services. It's absurd.
House Joint Resolution 8, a proposed amendment to the Oregon Constitution, would allow voters to approve local option levies above Measure 5 limits to pay for better schools, public safety, health care, and human services. And under HJR 8, these new voter-approved levies would be paid by all property owners equally based on their assessed value.
The logic is simple: If voters want to pay for better services, they should be able to have their say at the ballot box and not have arcane laws and arbitrary one-size-fits-all caps stand in the way.
Representative Jules Bailey (D-Portland)
Under Oregon's Measure 5, an artificial limit on local revenue for schools and services - called “compression” - means that even if voters approve temporary levies to fund their local schools and services, taxes cannot exceed the arbitrary and outdated Measure 5 limits.
As a result, schools receive only a fraction of the voter-approved funding. Even worse, neighbors with the same assessed value on their house can pay completely different amounts into the levy. And even worse? A vote to raise funding for, say, the public library can mean a cut in funding for schools or other services. It's absurd.
House Joint Resolution 8, a proposed amendment to the Oregon Constitution, would allow voters to approve local option levies above Measure 5 limits to pay for better schools, public safety, health care, and human services. And under HJR 8, these new voter-approved levies would be paid by all property owners equally based on their assessed value.
The logic is simple: If voters want to pay for better services, they should be able to have their say at the ballot box and not have arcane laws and arbitrary one-size-fits-all caps stand in the way.
Representative Jules Bailey (D-Portland)