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CASE FILE No 004 ★ June 19, 2026 ★ 8 min read
★ THE DOCKET ★
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An $895M earthquake bridge is now a $1.6–1.8B bridge — and construction has no start date
WHY IT MATTERS
Multnomah County sold voters and drivers a story you could fit on a bumper sticker: when the Cascadia Subduction Zone hits, downtown Portland's bridges fall down — except one. Pay a little more at the DMV, replace the 98-year-old Burnside Bridge with a seismically resilient lifeline, and emergency crews can still cross the Willamette. The not-to-exceed price tag, as recently as 2023, was $895 million, $300 million of which will be raised from county vehicle registration fees.
WHAT HAPPENED
★ That number is gone. In October 2025, the county quietly conceded the new estimate: anywhere between $1.6 and $1.8 billion, up from about $900 million previously. There is no new construction date. The bridge that has to be standing for The Big One is now a project the county can't afford to build.
WHO'S WHO
- Multnomah County Board of Commissioners Approved the Inverted Y cable-stayed design in Sept. 2024 and continues funding design work despite an unfunded construction phase.
- Multnomah County Transportation Division Now estimates the project at $1.6–$1.8B; reports about $740M secured, mostly state and local.
- Multnomah County Vehicle Registration Fee Raised from $38 to $112 biannually on 1/1/21 to feed the Willamette River Bridges fund.
THE PATTERN Nobody wears the black hat here. The Big One is real, the bridge is 98 years old, and inflation is inflation. But Portland is now paying consultants to refine a bridge it can't build, on a registration fee that already tripled, while the federal piece is a question mark. The supposed insurance policy against The Big One has become its own slow-motion fiscal earthquake. |
WHAT'S NEXT
→ Status check: we keep watching the players named above. Updates land in future Case Files.
| [ CASE REMAINS OPEN ]Next status check: when the next decision moves. We will be there. |
Voters bought 80 more arts teachers in 2012. The tax kept its promise; inflation kept the receipts.
WHY IT MATTERS
The Portland Arts Tax is, by reputation, the most-hated $35 in the city. By the numbers, it is one of the few civic dollars in Portland that did pretty much what voters were told it would do. Auditors found that the fund increased arts education — growing from 31 full-time art teacher positions before the tax to 111 positions in the 2023-24 school year in Portland-area districts. That is a tripling of arts staffing in K-5.
WHAT HAPPENED
★ And yet a March 2026 audit from the City Auditor concluded the city is not delivering on its full promise. From its launch through fiscal year 2024–25, the tax generated about $146 million, according to the report. Of the more than $12 million generated last year, $2 million went to collection and administrative costs; $7.8M went to school districts, and only $2.1M was left for grants to arts nonprofits.
WHO'S WHO
- City Auditor's Office Released the March 18, 2026 audit finding the city has not measured 'high-quality arts education' or ensured grants reach underserved communities.
- Office of Arts & Culture Stood up in July 2024 under the new form of government; now writing the standards the audit says were missing for 13 years.
- Council President (District 1) Floated reconfiguring the tax and adding a streaming-services tax to backfill flat receipts.
- Mayor's Office Issued a July 2025 executive order stopping city grant programs from prioritizing recipients by protected class, pausing the Office of Arts & Culture's underserved-communities plan.
THE PATTERN This is the rare Portland tax that delivered on its core supposed-vs-actual: it bought arts teachers, and the kids got them. The unhappy ending is that voters never indexed the $35 to inflation, then the new city government bolted on a $2M-a-year collection apparatus, then a hiring boom hit certified-teacher salaries. The tax kept its job. The dollar didn't. |
WHAT'S NEXT
→ Status check: we keep watching the players named above. Updates land in future Case Files.
| [ DEVELOPING ]Next status check when the next official update lands. |
RECEIPTS: (6)
Portland Auditor · Arts Tax audit · OPB · Poor management plagues Portland arts tax, audit finds · Axios Portland · Arts tax audit questions oversight · KOIN · Portland Arts Tax isn't delivering on promises, audit finds · Portland Council Ordinance 192185 · Amend Arts Tax Code · Oregon ArtsWatch · Highly critical Arts Tax audit · all sources →
Voters approved a 10¢ gas tax for streets three times. Inflation cut its buying power in half — so now there's a new fee.
WHY IT MATTERS
Portland voters were sold a simple deal in 2016: a temporary 10-cent-per-gallon gas tax called Fixing Our Streets, dedicated to potholes, paving, and pedestrian safety. They renewed it. They renewed it again. Voters overwhelmingly renewed the gas tax in 2020 and 2024 with over 70% approval. The most recent renewal, in May 2024, was projected at $70.5 million over four years for street maintenance and safety improvements.
WHAT HAPPENED
★ Then, in April 2026, the City Council asked them to pay again — twice. A near-doubling of a street damage fee on utilities, and a brand-new monthly Transportation Utility Fee on every household. The reason: the gas tax that voters keep renewing isn't doing what they were told it would.
WHO'S WHO
- Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) Says it has cut over $42 million of General Transportation Revenue–backed expenses since 2020 amid its eighth year of cuts.
- Portland City Council Approved a Street Damage Restoration Fee resolution on April 15, 2026, raising utility excavation fees from $7.22 to $13.84 per sq ft.
- Oregon voters (May 2026) Rejected the statewide gas-tax-and-fees package by a roughly 4:1 margin, eliminating an expected ~$24M to PBOT in FY 2026-27.
THE PATTERN Voters did everything they were asked to do. They passed a gas tax, then renewed it twice with over 70%. The system rewarded them by quietly halving the value of their yes vote, killing the state backstop, and asking for another $144 a year per house. The dedicated fund worked exactly as designed — the design just assumed 2016 prices would last forever. |
WHAT'S NEXT
→ Status check: we keep watching the players named above. Updates land in future Case Files.
| [ CASE CLOSED — WIN ]Reopens only if conditions change. We check quarterly. |
RECEIPTS: (6)
Portland.gov · Local Transportation Funding · OPB · Portland poised to approve higher fees on road construction · Oregon Capital Chronicle · Voters reject gas tax and vehicle fee hikes · Portland.gov · Fixing Our Streets projects 2024-2028 · Portland.gov · Online open house, Section 9 Accountability · Portland Council Resolution 37648 · all sources →
Loose Change
THREE NUMBERS — VOTE ONE ONTO NEXT WEEK'S DOCKET
in Multnomah County Health Department gift cards and cash incentives that went unaccounted for between 2022 and 2025. Officials say employees who distribute these gift cards and incentives are required to track where they were handed out. The county said that 629 orders were made for cash equivalents, but found no records for 129 of those gift cards. The county auditor has now opened a formal probe.
🔎 INVESTIGATE THISPortland City Council closed a record gap of over $160 million in the general fund to pass an $8.5 billion budget for FY 2026-27. Of 40 amendments considered, only 17 were adopted — most just restoring proposed cuts to parks and public safety.
🔎 INVESTIGATE THISThe hole in Multnomah County's Homeless Services Department for FY 2026-27, largely because of the expiration of one-time funding. The final budget eliminates at least 158 full-time positions, compared to the County's adopted Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
🔎 INVESTIGATE THISYour Move
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★ ★ ★ MONEY SLEUTH Pay your taxes. Read your receipt. Ask why before you vote yes.
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