People all over the state pay taxes to the state in addition to their local property tax. The state supplements the local school tax so that every student is funded to about $7000. So the higher the student population is relative to the property tax base, the more funding to that district. PPS has the largest tax base in the state due to a large industrial property base. It also has the largest population of students, but still higher than most districts on a per student basis. Oswego has the highest tax base per student even without have much commercial property paying school tax. Many people working in Portland do so in the large commercial/industrial tax base properties, while living in the surrounding communities that have little commercial tax base. These are in the urban growth boundaries and the the population density continues to rise. More students per tax base unit and rising, getting more funding from the state to supplement the local school taxes collected. Most of these districts are collecting more from the State per student, than Portland or the rest of most of the State outside the Urban growth area. These areas are also among the larges districts in numbers of students. So the State is subsidizing these districts with the most students, with the most dollars per student. Gresham may be the highest of all, at 5377 per student, and with 14000+ students that is big bucks. Beaverton has 48000+ collecting 4651 per student, really big bucks. Bandon with 996 students collecting 3751 per is chicken feed, and less by far than the average state funding per student in the State over all. The Portland area Uban growth boundaries constriction is reducing the tax base and promoting higher density population, (more students) per tax base unit. The net of it is, the tax payers though out the state are paying for the school systems within the high density constricted area around the Portland metro area. This is probably equitable for the people in the Portland district (PPS) since they have such a large industrial tax base providing school tax dollars for the students locally but benefit from workers that live in the surrounding communities. But the citizens in the rest of the state simply subsidizing the metro area. La Grand is something else, perhaps it is simply a small number (900+) of students in low taxed farm land area. Ps Wow! Woodburn is $6150 per student. What is causing this? Wow! Salem is up there too, $5740 per and Dang! Hugh number of students too, over 52 thousand. Something else making a large student population for the tax base here too????
I do not know the answer to my next question, I have only an impression. And I am too worn out right now to research it. So I will ask the expert, Professor Barfo. Who gets more “Federal” subsides/grants per person, large cities such as Portland or small rural communities? Both have special programs they can take advantage of. An example of a large city grant would be Portland’s Trimet. Portland receives approx $4 million in Federal grants every year to help pay Trimet operating cost. That is in addition to approx $1 million in State grants every year. Plus, how much did Portland receive in Federal and State grants to build and expand Trimet? Just on one project, we are talking about 10s of millions, possibly 100s of million $$$ in Federal Grants. Grants rural communities do not get.
Interesting tidbit about the the Common School Fund (from their website's fact sheet): Inputs into the fund include revenues from leasing state-owned rangelands and water ways, and harvesting timber on Common School forestlands. About 78 percent of the annual revenue from state school lands comes from forestlands. In 2009, the Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay generated $9 million. So they're saying Portlanders aren't paying for everything?
Most of the Coast is low in state contributions per Student compared with the Willamette valley. Lincoln county schools in only $2275 per student and Tillamook is around 3400 about like Multnomah. The Valley is High 5000 - 6000+ range. The only thing I can think of pushing this students per tax base so low, is probably immigrants. A lot of them.
Most of the Federal grants going to Tri-Met simply subsidize the absurdly bloated salaries and CEO bonuses Tri-Met "gives" itself. You could easily forgo any Federal subsidy and operate the same exact service in a safer and more efficient manner just by eliminating graft, nepotism, and Affirmative Action hiring which has given us an army of lazy, stupid and "entitled" operators.
I wonder if as many people ride tri-met today as did the Street car system in place in the area up to the early 50's? They ripped that out by the roots when the riders dropped a little rather than upgrade the system.
