Portland voters on Tuesday renewed a 10 cent-per-gallon gas tax that will generate an estimated $70.5 million over four years.
Measure 26-245 had roughly 69% of the vote in partial returns tallied at 8 p.m.
The money will be used for street repairs, including paving, filling potholes and installing sidewalks and crosswalks.
The gas tax, first passed in 2016 with 52% of the vote, was handily renewed in 2020 with 77% of the vote. To date, it’s raised $150 million, which has been used to pave 80 miles of city streets, fill over 40,000 potholes and make over 200 safety improvements.
The proposal had broad support, including among elected officials, civic and environmental groups and unions.
“These dollars account for about one-third of the money I have to do basic maintenance out there. So should this measure fail at the ballot box, you should expect road maintenance to get worse by about 33%,” Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps, who oversees the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said in April.
The proposal didn’t have organized opposition, but the Taxpayers Association of Oregon filed a Voters’ Pamphlet statement opposing it. The group argued the city misspends tax dollars, including on projects like studying a new Interstate 5 bridge connecting Oregon and Washington and building the transit-oriented Tilikum Crossing and the bike- and pedestrian-only Blumenauer Bridge.
Even with the renewal of the tax, the Portland Transportation Bureau expects a budget shortfall later this year. That’s in part because gas tax revenue has stagnated with the growth in electric and other fuel-efficient autos. Meanwhile, city parking meter and garage revenue has declined as more people work from home.
– Matthew Kish covers business, including the sportswear and banking industries. Reach him at 503-221-4386, mkish@oregonian.com or @matthewkish.
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