Submitted by Oil Sheik on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 4:41pm.
This is old news, Sam. From the 1998 lows, the price of oil increased more than 600% from 1998 to 2006.
In constant 2007 dollars, the price of oil peaked at $104.06 (per barrel) in 1979. It bottomed in 1998 at $10.00 and rose sharply from $30 to $68 from 2003-2006.
Here's a chart: http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/images/charts/Oil/Inflation_Adj_Oil_Prices_Chart.htm
Oil only exceeded the 1979 "peak price" in March 2008, and many analysts believe that $20 to $30 dollars of the current price is the result of speculators (like hedge funds) who can run the price down just as fast as they ran it up.
Unless you're planning on drilling for oil on City of Portland property, the supply/demand characteristics of the energy complex seems kind of academic.
Given that construction material and energy inflation was widely recognized as a problem for municipal governments in 2006 and 2007, I must question your effort to bring this matter to our attention in 2008.
Here's my take: now that you have decided it may be imprudent to put a new "transportation tax" on our water bills without first seeking voter approval, you are forced to persuade us that a tax increase is necessary. If you can blame the recent spike in oil prices as being the root cause of the problem, then the City's failure to maintain our infrastructure or anticipate price increases is diminished.
So long as you continue to pursue the Trams/Trains/Trolley school of transportation funding, I will continue to believe that you have intentionally negelected our existing road/traffic safety infrastructure in favor of shiny new things.
So long as the City blows $12 million of ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS for a software installation without so much as press release explaining how this MASSIVE screw-up occurred (and who is being held accountable), I will vote against every new tax or bond issue which reaches the ballot.
I have very little confidence in the City Council's administrative capability or willingness to manage to do more with less during a downturn. Your willingness to spend $6 million on a bike bridge speaks volumes about your profligate spending habits; the idea that your even willing to consider $1.4 billion for a new light rail bridge defies logic.
There are lean times ahead: shrinking tax revenues, rising unemployment, and declining property values. It is high time to plan for making do with less. If you simply try to solve the problem with new and increased taxes, you will force the middle class to flee for the suburbs.
The taxpayers of Portland are not a limitless pool of prosperity: many of us earn less than a City Commissioner and we don't get annual cost of living adjustments. Many retirees live on a fixed income, and have no way to pay for higher gas prices, so they make fewer trips and/or take the bus. We have been experiencing the pain of higher energy prices for 5 years now: please don't use that inflation as an excuse to raise our taxes and further diminish our standard of living.
CoP taxes are going higher: blame OPEC?
This is old news, Sam. From the 1998 lows, the price of oil increased more than 600% from 1998 to 2006.
In constant 2007 dollars, the price of oil peaked at $104.06 (per barrel) in 1979. It bottomed in 1998 at $10.00 and rose sharply from $30 to $68 from 2003-2006.
Here's a chart: http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/images/charts/Oil/Inflation_Adj_Oil_Prices_Chart.htm
Oil only exceeded the 1979 "peak price" in March 2008, and many analysts believe that $20 to $30 dollars of the current price is the result of speculators (like hedge funds) who can run the price down just as fast as they ran it up.
Unless you're planning on drilling for oil on City of Portland property, the supply/demand characteristics of the energy complex seems kind of academic.
Given that construction material and energy inflation was widely recognized as a problem for municipal governments in 2006 and 2007, I must question your effort to bring this matter to our attention in 2008.
Here's my take: now that you have decided it may be imprudent to put a new "transportation tax" on our water bills without first seeking voter approval, you are forced to persuade us that a tax increase is necessary. If you can blame the recent spike in oil prices as being the root cause of the problem, then the City's failure to maintain our infrastructure or anticipate price increases is diminished.
So long as you continue to pursue the Trams/Trains/Trolley school of transportation funding, I will continue to believe that you have intentionally negelected our existing road/traffic safety infrastructure in favor of shiny new things.
So long as the City blows $12 million of ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS for a software installation without so much as press release explaining how this MASSIVE screw-up occurred (and who is being held accountable), I will vote against every new tax or bond issue which reaches the ballot.
I have very little confidence in the City Council's administrative capability or willingness to manage to do more with less during a downturn. Your willingness to spend $6 million on a bike bridge speaks volumes about your profligate spending habits; the idea that your even willing to consider $1.4 billion for a new light rail bridge defies logic.
There are lean times ahead: shrinking tax revenues, rising unemployment, and declining property values. It is high time to plan for making do with less. If you simply try to solve the problem with new and increased taxes, you will force the middle class to flee for the suburbs.
The taxpayers of Portland are not a limitless pool of prosperity: many of us earn less than a City Commissioner and we don't get annual cost of living adjustments. Many retirees live on a fixed income, and have no way to pay for higher gas prices, so they make fewer trips and/or take the bus. We have been experiencing the pain of higher energy prices for 5 years now: please don't use that inflation as an excuse to raise our taxes and further diminish our standard of living.