Even the folks on the editorial board at The Oregonian don't buy the idea that "Novice Novick's" proposed "tiered street fee" is anything other than a poorly disguised income tax. He's simply calling it a "fee" so that he can take money from PERS and Social Security recipients, because the law doesn't allow him to do that if it's a tax.
And The Little General is now resorting to threatening if people don't go along with his cunning plan:
Novick warns that if City Council or voters reject that plan, he'll return with an income tax that places a heavy burden on the rich.
Come Hell or high water, he is by God determined to raid the wallets of Portland businesses and residents (while exempting the transit agency and commercial trucks and buses that actually cause much of the road damage). And of cource, "Novice Novick" doesn't elaborate upon his concept of who happens to qualify as "rich". Moreover, under his plan, Portland residents will be obliged to submit their financial data to the city, so that they can determine which "tier" the various residents occupy.
It doesn't really matter which plan pushed by The Little General eventually passes at Porkland City Council; opponents vow to force a public vote.
Mayor Charlie Hales and CommissionerSteve Novick’s ever-shifting plan would raise $46 million a year to pay for road repairs and maintenance. Hales and Novick say the city is way behind in keeping up the city's streets and needs to raise additional revenue catch up. Both have been looking for ways to avoid putting the plan before voters.
Nobody suggests that the roads don't need fixing in Porkland, but many residents realize that the reason they're in disrepair is because the city has, for over a quarter of a century, deferred maintenance; instead diverting road funds toward political pet projects, largely in an effort to burnish the "green" credentials of the politicians.
Given their history of diversion and waste, many resent the efforts of Novick and Hales to raid their wallets yet again. Hales, after all, campaigned on a promise to fix the roads without raising taxes, yet after being elected, he developed a case of amnesia and a sudden love of more taxes and fees.
