PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland city councilors are discussing a proposed ordinance that would charge the owner of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building a yearly fee to pay for costs associated with running a federal detention facility.
According to Ordinance 5.80, the measure is designed to recoup the costs that fall on the city’s shoulders associated with the detention facility, including any damages caused by the ongoing protests in South Portland. This fee wouldn’t be for the current lease, only for future leases. The dollar amount would ultimately be calculated by the city.
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The annual Detention Facility Impact Fee would be calculated based on factors such as the amount of money the city had to spend on Portland Police Bureau overtime monitoring and responding to protests, the Portland Bureau of Transportation rerouting traffic, the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services doing cleanup of containments in the water, and the cost incurred to businesses and buildings that have been affected by ongoing protests.
Supporters of the ordinance say it is necessary to shift the financial burden of the costs related to the ICE building from city taxpayers to the owner of the detention facility, an example of what is known in economics as the “Pigouvian approach.”…