Oregon has a very aggressive tax on income. I have touched on it before. They tax everyone even the poor and if they could police they probably take a cut of the panhandling cash as well.
Yet despite the crushing weight of a burdensome tax on earnings, Portland still manages to attract higher paying jobs than most of the rest of the area including Vancouver, USA. Sure, it is clear that Rip-City is the core of the metro area, and as such will have some “pull” on jobs. But do these companies realize that the quality of life for their W2 earners from the top all they way down to guy sweeping the floors is greatly enhanced when an extra nine plus percent is added to the bottom line?
Are our city leaders, who love offering up tax breaks and development deals, wooing big companies to bring their workforce ever so slightly north and enjoy a little extra fruit for that labor? Well, are they? I wonder sometimes. I think Washington County has done a great job on that front. Landing Intel years ago. I think Nike was a freebie as Phil Knight is a hard core Duck from U of O. Washington County still suffers under the draconian income tax, but they managed to land some juicy companies none-the-less.
The ‘Couv’ needs to capitalize on our combination of close in urban center location and the Evergreen State’s complete lack of a personal income tax. I realize that other taxes may impact businesses as well, but we should have a team of guys selling it baby, sell it!
The ambitious waterfront is coming together, now we need to get the big tenants in. Think bigger Mr. Mayor. 100 jobs, meh… 1000 jobs, nice… 5000 private jobs… yeah, that’s the ticket.
Ah the ‘Couv’ life; it is good.
The 'Couv' Life 