Sales Tax and environment (Portland, Beaverton: relocation, property taxes, smog)

[Whirled Peas]

I currently live in the Inland Empire area of So Cal and am considering relocationg to the Portland area (Beaverton, Tigard,...?) in a few years. I have two questions:

1)Can anyone who has lived in both areas (Portland and Inland Empire) for both the the winter and summer seasons provide their opinion on the weather differences ? The summers in the IE are long and brutal (over 90-102 degrees everyday seems like for 4 or 5 months) this is not good to me, but the winters are fine- not too cold, not much rain, plenty of sun still. The Portland area sounds like 8-9 months of cloudy days, lots of rain, but not all day or everyday, and the summers sound like 4-5 months of perfect weather, usually not over 80 degrees, winter and summer there sound good to me. Am I correct ? Oh yeah, and how about the smog differences ?

2)I understand there is no state sales tax in Oregon. In the IE of So Cal it ranges from 7.75% to 8.25%. So, no sales tax also sounds good to me. But what is the trade off ? In Cal the state and local governments receive the sales tax revenue to provide services (street maint, water sewer trash, police, fire, other things such as schools, etc,...) and everthing overall is in great shape. So how do municipal agencies in Oregon fund these services and how do they compare to So Cal services ? I believe property taxes are roughly the same (about 1.25% in IE and about 1.1% in Portland area), but let me know.

Any input on one or both of these questions will be appreciated.

Thanks

[jjpop]

I lived in the IE/OC area for 5 years, then moved back to OR 15 years ago, so I can answer your questions.

1) Weather differences are dramatic, but to say that Portland summer temps are usually not over 80 degrees is not correct. In fact, during July/August the temperature is routinely between 80 and 90, with weeks that reach the 90s and 100s. But then there's that week or two where the temps are in the 70s--very refreshing. During winter expect lots of rain and all-day cloudy days. In winter we do get sunbreaks (aka "sucker holes"--meaning that it starts to clear and you think it will stop raining, but 15 minutes later--SUCKER!!!)

2) It's very astute of you to consider how the lack of a sales tax may affect other taxes and services in the state. I'm no fan of a sales tax, but it would definitely provide more stable funding. Consequently, property and income taxes are high to take care of needed services. Property taxes mostly fund schools and other municipal (city/county) services such as roads and water/sewer. Income taxes also pay for schools, human services and public safety. I just read that the Oregon League of Women Voters has found that Oregonians pay the 3rd highest income taxes in the nation. We also have a screwy law here that is called the income tax "kicker" which basically prohibits the state from putting excess revenue away in a fund for the future. Individuals and corporations get some money back when revenue is greater than spending. I think it's bad policy and not how I would run my household, but it is the law.

Hope some of this helps.

[Whirled Peas]

Thanks for the response jjpop. So, it sounds like it gets about as hot in Portland as it does in IE in summer, but sounds like for a shorter amount of days- and are the evening and early morning temps tolerable compared to the IE? Does the heat in Portland peak then taper off quick or last on into the night ? In the IE the AC can run almost 24/7 from June into October-just absolute brutal heat all day, and still hot at night-for all those months.

Also, thanks for the insight on the taxes. Sounds like the money I'll save on sales tax will go to more state income tax.

[PNW-type-gal]

No, it's not anywhere near as hot as the IE (my son lives in Rancho Cucamonga). It CAN hit 100, and it can stay that way for a few days, but that's not very common. More often it's in the 80s, and it does cool down from there at night.

A lot of people get by here on no A/C at all, just a whole-house fan or a few window fans.

The state income tax is not all that different from California's - depending on your income and deductions, somewhere around 9-10%. There are some things that you see in California that you don't see here - for instance, you know those wide city boulevards that are 3-4 lanes in each direction, and have a beautifully planted median and landscaping along the sidewalk, and the 50-60 mph speed limit? We don't really have those here. The street sweepers come maybe once a month in the city areas and not at all in a lot of the county areas. With the exception of the newer parks, a lot of Oregon parks are simpler. I don't remember county and state parks as having fees in CA, but it's been a bit since I was last at one. I know the National Forest Service Trailhead fees are nationwide.

[Whirled Peas]

PNW-type-gal,

Glad to hear the summers are not as intense as the IE. I have a whole-house-fan now and it works great on spring and fall nights (but no way in the summer)-with all windows open, it draws all the cool air from outside and sents it up through the attic (cools the attic also-which in turn helps keep the house cool). I must sound like a whole-house-fan salesman.

No one can use those fancy street medians anyway. Only good to look at, and what use is it for municipalities to spend our money on them anyway-would be better to money into parks where people can use.

Also glad to hear that the state income tax is not much different than California's (not like I enjoy paying Cal Inc Taxes, but at least Oregon's not too much worse).

Thanks for all the info.

Ron

[jjpop]

Hey Whirled (Ron)--I don't have AC, but more and more people are getting it here, and many of the newer homes have it. I don't really know why. We'll get a week in the summer when the nighttime temperatures don't drop below the 70s, and it is, admittedly, miserable sleeping in those conditions. But generally the lows are in the 50s in the summer even when the highs reach the 90s. It's perfect open-window sleeping.

PNW-type-gal is right on the money in describing the infrastructure here. Honestly, I miss the beautifully landscaped traffic medians and the attention that is paid to getting the traffic flowing efficiently in SoCal. It's just not a priority here, probably because of funding.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by jjpop

Hey Whirled (Ron)--I don't have AC, but more and more people are getting it here, and many of the newer homes have it. I don't really know why. We'll get a week in the summer when the nighttime temperatures don't drop below the 70s, and it is, admittedly, miserable sleeping in those conditions. But generally the lows are in the 50s in the summer even when the highs reach the 90s. It's perfect open-window sleeping.

I think part of it is that when a new house is built, adding A/C isn't very expensive, in the greater scheme, plus it allows a whole house ventilation system (with pollen filters) to work year-round.