Clackamas County Chair Tootie Smith Plans on Doing Something Rarely Done by a Oregon Politician: She is Proposing a Measure to Reduce Taxes

This is just in: a politician has managed to do the seemingly impossible in tax loving Oregon.

Tootie Smith, Clackamas County Chair, has issued an agreement to bring a ballot measure to the people to reduce taxes in the upcoming election.  Smith is leading the way drastically decrease to the unusually high tax burden of Metro’s Supportive Housing Measure.  As a reminder, this measure along with the bloated Preschool For All program, was the tipping point that had Portland residents paying the highest taxes in the nation. Both of these were voted in by TriCounty residents in 2020.

Lynn Peterson, President of Metro, expressed her support of Tootie’s plan, saying “Due to the hard work of Chair Tootie Smith, Metro Council has directed staff to create a ballot measure to reform the Supportive Housing Tax by reducing the tax rate on personnel income tax in the coming years, creating efficiencies, and getting regional outcomes on homelessness. This bipartisan work is needed to bring balance and stability to our region.”

This is monumental because Metro gets 10% of the taxes received from the SHS Tax. Both Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega-Pederson and Washington County chair Kathryn Harrington, were NOT in favor of the tax cut AND, they also lobbied to make the tax permanent.  

The new measure will be presented to all metro voters for the May 2025 election. Smith says, “I am confident that this tax initiative will bring much-needed economic relief to residents while maintaining Clackamas County’s fiscal health.”

Though the tax was passed by voters across the TriCounty area, it was rejected by Clackamas County voters. Tootie Smith said in a press release “We are taking meaningful action to ensure that Clackamas County residents can keep more of their hard-earned money.  This tax cut is not only about reducing the burden on families, but also about creating a more sustainable and efficient local government.” 

Under Tootie Smith’s leadership, Clackamas County has been consistently better than the other two counties in the TriCounty area in terms of livability and affordability, and has done so with a budget surpluses of $153 million in the last year.