Proposed legislation to provide Salem about $6 million a year from the state of Oregon to compensate for lost property tax revenue received bipartisan support at a public hearing Monday.
All who provided testimony at the House Committee on Revenue spoke in favor of 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.
The funds could take a sizeable chunk out of Salem’s budget deficit but would not address the entire shortfall.
“In Salem, our challenge funding basic emergency services is exacerbated by the loss of at least $7.5 million each year due to the prevalence of State government properties in the city,” Mayor Chris Hoy said in his testimony. “As the State Capitol of Oregon, without a payment in lieu of taxes, emergency services to these state-owned properties are effectively subsidized by Salem taxpayers.”