As Oregon lawmakers work up a plan to fund nuts-and-bolts road maintenance, the state’s public transit agencies say they’re running on empty.

Without an eventual five-fold increase in a state payroll tax that bolsters access to buses and trains, the agencies have been telling lawmakers they will have to make punishing cuts.

“Even some of the largest transit agencies like TriMet, Salem-Keizer [Cherriots] and Rogue Valley Transportation District will be forced to cut service as much as 30% in the next several years, with devastating impacts to our economy, environment and quality of life,” an FAQ document circulated by the Oregon Transit Association reads.

Transit agencies say a bevy of causes are to blame for funding woes. Among them are rising wages for employees and higher fuel costs, more expensive vehicles, and the need to hire security guards and purchase cameras to combat public safety concerns. At the same time, remote work policies in a post-pandemic world have reduced income from fares.

To avoid cuts, transit providers are asking lawmakers to hike a 0.1% tax Oregon workers have taken out of their paychecks.

Money raised from that tax, an estimated $141 million this fiscal year, has helped expand transit services and subsidize rides for people with low income. The funding increases alongside wages — roughly 5% a year, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The Oregon Transit Association wants it to rise more quickly. The group’s proposal is to ratchet up the tax to 0.5% of payrolls by 2033. According to the OTA’s figures, that would be just under $17 a month for the median Oregon worker making roughly $40,200 a year.

Some legislative Democrats are already lining up in support. A group of 10 lawmakers sent a letter Friday making that clear to the leaders of the House and Senate, along with the Democratic chairs of the Legislature’s transportation committee. One of those chairs, Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, signed the letter.

“Oregon is facing a transit crisis,” the letter said. “Across the state — from rural districts to urban centers alike — public transit agencies are sounding the alarm: without additional funding, essential transit service will be slashed, workers will be laid off, and thousands of Oregonians will be left stranded without reliable and affordable access to jobs, health care or education.”

Public transit east of the Cascades in Oregon can be sparse and inconsistent, and people often rely on a mix of options to get from place to place, as documented in the recent OPB series Stop Requested.

Transit money is one of many competing concerns the Legislature will weigh as it looks to balance the desire for better road upkeep with public worries over rising costs.

Unlike a transportation bill passed in 2017, legislative leaders say they aren’t looking to fund ambitious new projects this year. Instead, they’re hoping to give ODOT a better base of funding to complete basic road maintenance and other routine tasks.

The agency has warned it will need to eliminate 1,000 positions if it doesn’t get an additional $354 million in the next two-year budget. But ODOT has also pressed for as much as $1.8 billion more each year, an amount it says would allow it to fully carry out its mission.

Where lawmakers will come down is anyone’s guess. The Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee has yet to unveil a framework offering insights into how much money it wants to raise or where it will find those funds.

Democrats have been clear that hikes to vehicle registration fees and the state’s 40-cent-per-gallon gas tax are on the table but have said they will cast a wide net. The party holds a three-fifths supermajority in both chambers, which allows it to pass taxes on a party-line vote.

Republicans have thrown cold water on the idea of higher taxes. They’ve suggested that mission creep within ODOT has led the agency to spend money on unnecessary priorities. For at least one Republican, House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, that includes transit.

“They need to be focused on transportation,” Drazan told OPB earlier this year. “They do not need to be focused on covering the earth with MAX trains.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/03/28/oregon-public-transit-funding-tax-hike-road-maintenance-max-buses-trains-cherriots/