West Linn Schools now require development to pay its share for our award winning schools!

West Linn-Wilsonville School District in Oregon is (finally!) requiring development to help pay for the schools in the district that they brag about to potential home buyers. The tax – one dollar per square foot on residential development and 50 cents per square foot on commercial or industrial construction -- was passed by the 2007 Legislature after two Clackamas School District Oregon moms spent five years of their lives working towards this goal; each district has the responsibility to adopt it the tax, something I am happy West Linn did. I have talked about the importance of taxing new development for years, but stopped short of doing much about it besides writing newspaper opinion pieces.
The tax will raise around $400,000 based on construction numbers from last year, though sadly West Linn is beginning to run out of land. Wilsonville, though, still has wide open spaces.
Cornelia Seigneur

www.writermom.net

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