Proposed legislation would provide Salem up to $6 million a year from the state of Oregon to offset tax revenue lost from the large amount of state-owned land in the city.
Rep. Tom Andersen, D-Salem, is sponsoring House Bill 4072 to make state agencies pay a fee to compensate Salem for fire, police and emergency medical services provided based on the agencies’ use of state-owned land in the city.
The fees would come to about $5 million to $6 million annually, a sum reached by calculating the acres of state-owned land in the city and total land acreage within city limits.
If passed, Salem could begin getting that money this year under a three-year pilot. It would help — but not solve — the city’s budget woes .
A newly formed Revenue Task Force is exploring several options for Salem, such as an increased city operations fee, a local tax levy implemented through a ballot measure, or another stab at a voter-approved payroll tax.
“We are turning over every rock, listening to every idea, and meeting with our legislative delegation, in the search of a solution to the broken revenue system that we are living under,” Salem Mayor Chris Hoy said Thursday. “Payment in lieu of taxes is a part of that solution, and I’m grateful for the attention that the issue is getting.”