Proposed bus service tax debated at city club

A proposed payroll tax on the November ballot in the Salem area drew about 140 people to the Willamette Heritage Center on Friday for a debate on the issue.

The tax — proposed by Salem-Keizer Transit, better known as Cherriots — would equal 0.21 percent of total employer payroll, and would raise $5 million to expand Cherriots bus services.

Arguments for and against the tax have been made for weeks in the community, and Friday's one-hour debate before the Salem City Club continued that effort: T.J. Sullivan represented the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce in opposing the tax, and Kathy Lincoln, a transit board member, represented Cherriots to argue in favor.

Cherriots says the tax revenue would:

• Restore the Student Bus Pass Program, allowing middle and high school students to ride the bus for free during the school year. The program, funded by a state grant, was eliminated by the state in 2011.
•  Provide bus service on holidays except Thanksgiving, New Years and Christmas, and extend bus service operating evening hours.
•  Resume weekend bus service. The Saturday bus service would be brought back in summer 2016. The Sunday bus service, which would be more limited, would arrive in summer 2017. 

Earlier this year the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce promised Cherriots a “holy war” if the transit board pursued an employer tax and, not wanting to break a promise, have followed through.

The Chamber’s "Stop the Tax" campaign has flooded television airwaves and blanketed businesses and lawns with signs opposing the tax. Cherriots has responded with an expansive community outreach campaign including phone banks, and canvassing.

There are more than 20 informational meetings planned in the next few weeks. Salem Hospital, a nonprofit that would be subject to the tax, has opposed the ballot measure and contributed $50,000 to the Chamber's campaign.

Sullivan hit many of the same arguments opponents of the tax have been making for months:

• The tax unfairly targets businesses. Residents have rejected tax increases for bus service before. The reason for the rejection, according to Chamber polling, is that residents didn’t want to put more money into empty buses.
• The tax would hit middle class families.
• Nonprofits will suffer if the tax is passed. Businesses will have to cut back on charitable donations in order to afford the tax.

According to Chamber members, Sullivan said,  when weekend service was discontinued in 2009 no appreciable difference was noticed by businesses in their level of customers.

Lincoln had her own arguments ready to go:

• The service expansions — weekend service, student bus pass program and holiday service — are needed to put Salem in line with other cities in the state, including Eugene and Portland. Salem is the largest city in the region without weekend bus service.
• The employer payroll tax was overwhelmingly popular with likely voters.
• Contrary to Chamber claims, businesses stand to benefit from the changes made possible by the tax, including a more expansive employee pool and more customers.

Other cities including Eugene and Portland, have employer payroll taxes funding their transit, at a much higher level, 0.7 percent compared to the proposed payroll tax of 0.21 percent.

For some the debate was more of a show of support than an opportunity to be swayed.

Salem Hospital's opposition was one of the biggest reasons behind Dana and Doug Barricklow supporting the tax.

“What convinced me was the hospital providing $50,000 to the (Chamber) campaign, and it seems they care more about their bottom line more than the community needs for transit on the weekends,” Doug Barricklow said.

Dana Barricklow nodded and pointed to the amount of money spent on the campaign by the Chamber.

“They can spend all this money on this campaign, and they will spend more on these TV ads than they’ll spend on the actual tax,” she said.

bsouthward@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6709 or follow on Twitter @B_Southward