The multimillionaire founder of the once-flourishing Shilo Inn chain, Mark Hemstreet, has refused to pay nearly half a million dollars in the regional government Metro’s homelessness tax and Multnomah County’s Preschool for All taxes, according to the city of Portland.
The city filed suit earlier this month to collect about $479,000 in interest, fees, penalties and unpaid taxes that were meant to go toward fighting homelessness and offering tuition-free preschool for 3- and 4-year-old children. The city’s suit says that it “informed” Hemstreet of his “delinquent” status, yet “Hemstreet has failed to pay” for the 2023 tax year.
Both taxes were voter-approved and took effect in 2021, though they have often drawn grumbling from upper-income earners and businesses subject to them. They’ve even been blamed for an exodus of wealthy Portland or Portland-area residents seeking tax relief…