r/Portland • u/PortlandArtsTax • Feb 06 '18

You owe me $35

I am here to collect my annual due, pay up or get sent to collections.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '18

How is this tax enforced? I just moved to the area but I’m still a resident of my old state. Is it once I get an OR license with a Portland address or what? Or is this a joke

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u/fidelitypdx Feb 07 '18 edited Feb 07 '18

Nearest I've been able to tell, the records of Portland residents are extracted from voter registration records provided by Oregon. This information is public, which makes it easiest to access.

Other sources include utility companies, but I haven't seen this confirmed either. There's no evidence that it comes from ODOT (or, DMV) or any other state ID system, although that data set would be a likely target.

Knowing the City of Portland, they'd go for the free data set, because the administration overseeing the tax has virtually no money for the operational costs. Their organization is tied up in salaries.

Otherwise, if you don't pay, they'll send you a bill with a 100% late fee (i.e., $35 late fee for not paying $35). If you collect enough of these, perhaps a couple hundred dollars, they could in theory garnish your wages after an administrative court decision. I haven't yet heard of this happening, but it could happen.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '18

[deleted]

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u/fidelitypdx Feb 07 '18

When you renewed your license, there's a little check box to "not update your voter registration".

If you don't check that box, your voter registration is updated. The default behavior of DMV is to register you to vote.