In general, it seems like a
fair move that both sides of an
eviction would have a lawyer.
I mean really to be better if
the two sides could just sit
down and work something out.
But I guess that's not always the case.
So if there is going to be a legal fight,
let's make it fair.
That, says one of the cochairs
of the local effort,
is how Multnomah County ended up
with this ballot measure. This
ballot measure is part of the
nationwide Right to Council movement.
It's modeled after very successl
measures all across the country
that have shown that when you
provide free legal representatin
for tenants being taken to evicn
court or at risk of displacement
in a surprising number of cases,
you can keep that tenant house
until they can be stabilized.
The most prominent leader in
the right to council movement,
as it's called, is New York Cit.
It passed a law back in 2017 to give access
to free legal counsel to lower income
renters facing some sort of an eviction.
It pays for the program with taxpayer money.
A recent posting by the city reports that
84% of tenants and eviction proceedings
who had a lawyer through this Rt
to Counsel program avoided evic.
That's a pretty high number.
That's the good news.
The bad news?
The program is now so popular ad
New York eviction battles so co,
that the program has struggled.
And it's going to need a ton of
new money to keep up and offer
lawyers to everyone who needs t.
So OK, it's having success with those.
It helps in New York,
which leads us right back here
to the vote In Multnomah County,
the measure has one of those
crazy numbers for a name.
It's called Measure 26238.
But instead of taxing everyone,
this measure is different.
It would only tax people
who have capital gains.
That's a term for the profit tht
you make when you sell somethin.
You know,
like a property or a home
or stocks or mutual funds,
even digital currency.
Now, this is not the first grouo
think of taxing those capital g.
The federal government has a cal
gains tax, but unlike Measure 2,
the feds soften the blow.
For example,
they don't count the 1st $500,00
of profit when you sell your
home if you're a married couple.
But the wording of 26238 has
no such exemption.
It would tax everyone on every
bit of capital gains they get.
But John Bethancourt,
the coorganizer we saw just a le
bit ago who's behind the measur.
He says in practice,
a similar exemption really would
apply to the capital gains tax
if it passes in Multnomah Count.
But it's not written in the measure, right?
It literally does not say that.
Well, we, we refer to the,
the federal tax calculations.
We say, you know, capital gainss
defined by the Internal Revenue Code,
you know, and that's just the wy
people write ballot measures.
You know, we wrote it in the same style
of other successful ballot meass
like the Port and Clean Energy ,
which are written in brief highl
language outlining the parametes
of the program and the key feat.
The tax would start at .75%,
but it would be adjustable and t
could go up or it could go down.
On the other side of this argum,
folks like the Portland Business
Alliance say that tax would
have a big and dramatic impact,
even if it's unintended on anyone at any
income level trying to sell their home.
And so we got involved because here's
a proposal that asks voters to e
taxes and in large part on hous.
In the middle of a housing cris.
And so it's our responsibility
to stand up to proposals like
this that may be well intended o
help get tenants representation,
but that impact the very thing
that we know is driving our regn
to a place of unaffordability.
Those who are against it say the
measure would hit homeowners who have
seen their nest egg grow in ther
homes during the fast increasesn
value over the past several yea.
And then there is the question of the
overall tax burden in Multnomah County.
Voters in 2020 already approved a big
income tax measure in the county that
supports preschool for all and a separate
one for a metro tax for homeless services.
The next year,
more than 12,000 people, by the,
moved out of Multnomah County.
Several groups have lined
up to support the measure,
including the Urban League of Portland,
the Democratic Party of Multnomah County,
and two major labor unions.
On the other side, the Black Business
Association of Oregon is agains,
along with several elected leads
including Congressman Earl Blumenauer,
Metro's President, Portland's m,
2 county commissioners,
and a whole bunch more.
So what are the chances of
this thing passing?
Well, I dialed up pollster John Horvick
with DHM Research for his insig.
His group asked about the measue
late last year and found 40% wee
in favor but 47% were against
40%. If you were sort of do a lf
campaign work and public opinion work at
the beginning of a process is quite low.
You know typically campaigns wao
start with about 60% support for their
issue because it's not unusual protect
particularly when a when a contt
is contested for support to eroe
as you get closer to Election D.
Now, that said, if we look back in history,
voters in Multnomah County have been very
generous when it comes to tax measures.
So traditionally Portland
voters love new taxes.
The last time voters said no to
a new tax was for a Portland
school bond way back in 2011.
So yeah, it's been a while.
And by the way, the very next yr
voters did approve that measure.
But Horvich says the Multnomah
County capital gains tax is rung
into tax frustration right now.
Many living in the county feel
that they're already paying too
much tax for too little service.
And this is a different sort of,
by the way, that voters are not used to.
This is a new mechanism.
So we're not only asking voters
to say yes to a tax measure,
we're asking them to say yes to
a tax measure that they've never
even considered before locally.
Another is that this is to supp.
A group of individuals who don't represent
the majority of voters in Multnomah County.
That is, it's meant to protect renters,
only renters, but renters who ae
at risk of of losing their hous.
The vast majority of voters in this May
special election are going to be homeowners.
They're going to be older.
They're not going to be people
who for the most part are going
to feel like they're going to
directly benefit from from this.
So the other piece is that.
The proponents of this are not
nearly as well organized or as l
resourced as the opponents of t.
Finally, he says,
turnout could be low that often are for
these elections that are held in May.
That could also hurt the capital gains tax,
since it's typically younger vo,
renters who are absent when
the turnout is low.
Multnomah County told us today t
every registered voter in the cy
should have their ballots by no,
so it could be sitting in your mailbox
if you haven't checked yet toda,
this proposal is on there and hopefully
now you have a better understanding of
the issue before you cast your .