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MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OR (KPTV) — On Nov. 3, voters in Multnomah County will decide whether every child in the county should be eligible for free preschool.
Ballot Measure 26-214 promises high quality, tuition-free preschool for all children who are three and four years old, up to six hours per day.
The program would be paid for by a 1.5 percent tax on taxable incomes over $125,000 for those filing as a single taxpayer or $200,000 for those filing jointly.
The county would levy an additional 1.5 percent tax on single incomes over $250,000 and joint incomes over $400,000.
“This measure, it is by taxing the rich and over 92 percent of us will not get affected by this in any way,” said Sahar Muranovic, a David Douglas School Board member who was part of the effort to put the measure on the ballot. “This is something that is sustainable that would be funded fully.”
But the measure’s opponents say the idea that the program would be paid for by a tax on the rich is misleading.
“When you raise taxes on income, you’re hitting small business owners, who are taxed as though they’re individuals on the income from their business,” said Matt Evans, a representative with the Taxpayers Association of Oregon. “So for example, a small independent coffee shop owner is going to pay this tax.”
If the measure passes, preschool assistants and teachers would be paid a minimum of $19.91 per hour. The preschool for all program would be administered by Multnomah County.
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