I moved to Portland to fix my family’s marina business, and discovered a paradise of outdoors, phenomenal cuisine and hipster cafes – I fell in love. However, I was warned about Portland’s challenges.
Our city’s excessive bureaucracy, burdensome taxation and lack of civic accountability create economic challenges. Operating a business has not been easy. The city gives novel reasons to reject permit applications while our security costs have ballooned.
The latest madness, the “rain tax,” has me worried about operating a Portland business.
Proposed by the Bureau of Environmental Services, the rain tax expands stormwater fees to floating homes and docks. But precipitation on an overwater roof or dock evaporates or falls into the river, and never uses the drains, pipes, or pumps in Portland’s stormwater infrastructure. No other major city in America imposes such fees.
Our existing stormwater costs would increase 120%, exceeding $200,000 per year, according to the bureau. That’s devastating for our residents. The scheme imposes a higher burden on our docks than if they were on land.
It’s remarkable that Portland can enforce a notoriously cumbersome review process for basic permits, but can spend $400,000 on outside consultants and swiftly enact catastrophic code changes. The rain tax will be debated and potentially enacted by City Council in coming weeks.
We must confront bureaucracy that is more interested in flexing its regulatory muscles than improving basic services and tackling the massive challenges. Please encourage the city to reject this senseless change when it hits the City Council agenda.
Justin Teutsch, Portland
Teutsch represents the ownership group of Columbia Crossings
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