Portland fee hikes could cost residents $1,500 more a year
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She ain't cheap, but at least she's pretty. Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The average Portlander could see a $1,500 increase in expenses over the coming year.
Why it matters: A cascade of tax hikes, new fees and utility rate increases will push the cost-of-living up even further for Rose City residents.
- That's according to a number-crunching analysis from one Reddit user and confirmed by Axios.
Here's the breakdown of increased costs, either already in place or coming to an invoice near you soon:
🎨The arts tax jumped from $35 per year to $50, though fewer people will have to pay it.
đźš— A new transportation utility fee will cost each household roughly $144 a year to cover the city's billion-dollar road maintenance backlog.
đź’¦ Water rates, as well as sewer and stormwater rates, will rise, together adding about $120 per year to the typical bill.
🗑️ Trash collection will go up by $15 a year for the most common service level.
Plus: Portland General Electric raised power rates last month — another $96 per year on the average bill — and natural gas users saw their yearly bills go up by about $53 in November, too.
- Meanwhile, voters renewed both the parks levy and a bond to modernize schools, which means the typical homeowner will continue paying about $1,000 in property taxes for those two measures alone.
All in all, yearly costs can creep up to $1,500 depending on household size, income level and other variables, such as the size of your trash can.
Between the lines: This doesn't include taxes that select households are required to pay for Metro's supportive housing services and the county's Preschool for All program, the latter of which will increase by 0.8% next year.
Driving the news: Wednesday's Reddit post by user Pure_Claim_4353 kicked off a cost-of-living conversation that drew more than 400 comments as of Thursday.
- "You can budget around a one-time levy but when your basic electric and water bills just keep climbing every year it's death by a thousand cuts," one commenter wrote.
- "We legislated our way into the mess we're in," another added. "Hopefully we can legislate our way out."
What they're saying: Council President Jamie Dunphy acknowledged in a statement to Axios that life here is getting more expensive but said "the cost of doing nothing is growing more expensive as well."
- "If we want a city where the parks are maintained, roads are safe, and kids have quality education, we must make those investments now before the backlog grows too large to tackle."
The bottom line: As the price of admission to Portland continues to climb, some residents may look for cheaper pastures.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the change in water and sewer and stormwater rates will add about $120 to the typical users yearly bill (not their monthly bill).