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They have a long list of recommendations.  From the brochure for the Summit held on Monday: Ten Initiatives to Promote High-Wage Job Growth.  Oregon InC $, Business development tools and access to capital, Regulatory and Permitting simplification, industrial land availability, cut trees and $ to the biomass industry, energy efficiency, infrastructure projects, training of employees by the public, water from the Columbia for farmers, tax changes.  The Agenda and Plan Summary says "Details at www.oregonbusinessplan.org/industry-clusters.aspx " but I can't find it there. There is more detail on these in the hand out from Monday, but you're right, it's gimme all the way.

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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GreeninEugene, I'd love to talk.  Please contact my through our website.  Jody Wiser, Tax Fairness Oregon

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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The last time we looked, we couldn't even find a way to report tax fraud on the Oregon Department of Revenue website.  We could find iton the IRS website - with some chance of reward, and on the websites of several other states. 

Tax Fairness Oregon has been pushing, with some success, for better tax enforcement for some time.  The Department itself says we don't collect $1.2 billion a year which is due.  Using their figures, they fail to get returns from some 300,00 to 400,000 Oregonians who owe taxes. 

posted 3 years ago
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In the past the Department of Revenue as fought efforts to use web posting to get delinquent taxpayers to pay up.  Perhaps they no longer will.  My data on this is fairly old, as we pushed for web postings during two legislative sessions and got nowhere.  I've not updated that data since 2006 or 7 but back then over 20 states listed delinquent taxpayers on their websites.  From a fact sheet Tax Fairness Oregon prepared back then: 

1)   Web listings are highly productive.  For virtually no cost, they collect otherwise uncollectable tax debt, from individuals and companies who, under the threat of being listed, pay up to keep their names off the list. 

ü  Georgia -- $300,000 in their first six weeks

ü  Colorado -- $7.5 million  in their first 16 months

ü  Connecticut -- $161 million over seven years

ü  Maryland -- $10.5 million over four years

ü  Illinois -- began March 1, 2005 and collected $590,000 from 89 taxpayers before the first list was posted!

ü  Wisconsin -- $9.7 million in the first five months 

2)   All states post the delinquency lists not on a separate website, but on the tax department’s website, where the threat of being seen is greatest and the cost of maintenance is least.  

3)   They list only taxpayer information that is already public information—those with tax liens.  As this is already a matter of public record, there is no risk to the state. 

 4)   They list businesses, business owners, and corporate officers, as well as individual taxpayers. 

posted 3 years ago
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