Oregonians Finally Done Working to Pay For Government

Happy Cost of Government Day Oregon! The Cost of Government Day measures the calendar date by which the average American pays off his/her share of spending and regulatory burdens at the local, state and federal levels. This year, residents of Oregon had to work 198 days out of the year just to pay for the cost of federal, state and local government.

Over the last ten years, residents of the state have experienced an increase in taxes of $7.51 billion. In other words, each resident in Oregon was saddled with an additional tax burden of $1,948.63.  In fact, for the last three years, the government has increased taxes in Oregon. Together, state and local taxes compose 9.8 percent of taxpayers’ income – roughly equal to the national average.  

While Oregon implemented some important reform to public union benefits, there is still a lot of work ahead for the Beaver State. Hopefully these reforms are the start of more efforts to streamline state spending, which, in turn, could lead to an earlier Cost of Government Day for Oregon taxpayers.

TAGS: Spending, Regulation