No one is exempt from the economic devastation hitting the region from the coronavirus pandemic. Not workers, businesses and, as a sobering announcement from Metro last week made clear, not government.

Metro, the regional planning agency that runs the Oregon Zoo, Oregon Convention Center, Keller Auditorium and other venues, said last week it expects to cut up to 700 jobs ­– about 40% of its work force – as a result of closures and event cancellations amid COVID-19 restrictions. While Metro hopes the layoffs will be temporary, it’s hard to predict how long the novel coronavirus will wreak its havoc.

It is a staggering blow both for those losing their jobs and for Metro, an agency whose responsibilities have greatly expanded and which now projects $11 million a month in lost revenue due to the closures and reduced solid-waste collection. While most of the laid-off employees work at the venues, the agency also plans to reduce schedules and enact furloughs for some of its remaining staff – all of which adds up to fewer employees being asked to shoulder more work that may or may not be within their area of expertise.

The turmoil comes as voters prepare to weigh in on Metro’s $250 million ballot measure for funding homeless services in May. The measure would tax “higher-income earners” – individuals making $125,000 or more and couples making $200,000 or more – as well as the profits of businesses with more than $5 million in gross sales. The proceeds would go to agencies providing support services, such as mental health and drug addiction counseling, to help people who are homeless.

But there are few other details about the measure, which was rushed onto the May ballot instead of the November ballot as originally planned. Metro is still working out such critical components as who would receive the money, how it would be used, what outcomes the money would deliver or even who would collect the tax (although Metro is now in talks with the city of Portland to handle that job for the tri-county region, said Metro spokesman Nick Christensen). While Metro says administrative costs would be capped at 5%, there’s no discussion in the ballot measure about an administrative cost cap for the nonprofit agencies that will be receiving the money.

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And now, there’s an even more critical question: Will the ballot measure even raise the $250 million that Metro promised its homeless-services partners?

In the past two weeks, tens of thousands of people have been laid off and businesses across the state have shut down. Longtime institutions like Powell’s Books and McMenamins restaurants are fighting for their survival. The projections of just a few months ago of how many individuals and businesses would be subject to the tax may no longer hold in today’s upside-down economy. And with no clear sign of how long this pandemic or its economic consequences will persist, this measure may simply not deliver the amount of money that homeless services agencies have said is necessary.

The deadline has passed for Metro to withdraw the measure. Even if it wanted to, the agency cannot pull it in favor of the November ballot when the economic picture will likely be clearer. Regardless, agency leaders have given no sign of second thoughts.

In the short time before ballots go out, Metro should follow through on its obligation to provide better answers to the many unanswered questions about this measure. The utter lack of detail so far has reflected an unsettling disrespect for taxpayers, who are being asked to hand over $2.5 billion over 10 years with the barest of commitments from Metro. And Metro also owes its nonprofit partners a true assessment of what it will actually be able to raise. Its answers will help voters decide whether to approve this or ask the agency to submit an improved measure later this year. In an email, Christensen said Metro’s immediate financial focus has been on COVID-19’s effects on daily operations. But agency officials understand the economy has changed dramatically, he said. “What we don’t know is how long these economic impacts will be felt in our region, or how quickly our economy will rebound once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides,” he wrote.

While no one could have foreseen this calamity, it’s unfortunate that the Metro Council didn’t stick to the November timeline. Even with the May election, homeless services agencies will not receive a dime of this money before 2021 – same as it would have been for a November measure. The rush to refer the measure also forced Metro staff to quickly deliver policy analyses that require methodical review. It is no wonder that they initially erred in estimating what a higher-earner tax would raise, necessitating Metro’s last-minute addition of a business tax to make up the shortfall. Ironically, the only apparent benefit of putting this before voters in May was that it wouldn’t compete with Metro’s planned multibillion-dollar transportation measure on the November ballot – a measure that may now be delayed past November.

Few dispute the need for more tax revenue to help those who are homeless. Few dispute that addressing homelessness is one of the region’s most pressing priorities, a priority brought into even sharper focus by the coronavirus pandemic. But this measure is full of unknowns that threaten to undercut both its appeal to voters and its effectiveness if passed. In taking this shot at the ballot, Metro should at least give voters and its nonprofit partners the honest information they deserve.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

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