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Yamhill County board approves letter opposing proposed 4% excise tax on new tires
Summary
Commissioners unanimously approved a letter opposing House Bill 3362, raising concerns the excise would duplicate existing funding mechanisms and burden local economies.
The Yamhill County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously March 6 to approve a letter opposing House Bill 3362, which would impose a 4% excise tax on the retail sale of new tires in Oregon.
Chair Johnston told the board she testified against the bill in Salem and urged the county to sign onto a written opposition because similar funding for wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation already exists, she said. "There's already a funding thing, set up. So why add a tax?" she said during the meeting.
In remarks to the board, Chair Johnston and other commissioners criticized the bill as an added tax and expressed concern about how the revenue could expand to other "modes of transportation" beyond freight rail. She referred to testimony from ODOT, Amtrak and BNSF at a legislative hearing and questioned whether large freight corporations should receive local supplement funding. "BNSF is a corporation that made over $6,000,000,000 last year, and I don't think we need to be supplementing that with our money locally here," she said.
The board also noted public opposition at the hearing and from submitted testimony. Commissioners discussed local infrastructure needs that would not benefit from the proposed excise levy, including unfinished road projects and hazardous intersections in the county.
Commissioners voted to sign and submit the opposition letter to the state; the motion passed unanimously.
The letter will be forwarded to state legislators and filed in accordance with the board's standard practice for position letters on state legislation.
