Oregon retail chain Bi-Mart says it plans to stop filling prescriptions in 13 stores in the Portland area, blaming rising medical costs and a new Oregon business tax that kicks in January 1.

The company said it will send its prescription files from the 13 affected stores to nearby Walgreens.

In a news release, Bi-Mart marketing Vice President Don Leber said the decision to back away from pharmacy services resulted from rising fees on Medicare prescriptions, restricted access to health care plans, and Oregon’s new corporate activity tax.

It’s not clear how much the new tax factored into Bi-Mart’s calculus but it plainly was not the decisive element. The company will apparently continue filling prescriptions at dozens of Oregon stores outside the Portland area that are subject to the statewide tax.

And the locations that will stop providing pharmacy services include Bi-Mart’s Washougal store, which is not subject to the tax because that city is in Washington.

While the stores will remain open, pharmacies will close at locations in Aloha, Damascus, Gresham, Hillsboro, Molalla, Newberg, Oregon City, Sandy, Tigard, Woodburn and Portland (the Halsey and Woodstock locations).

The new tax Oregon lawmakers approved in May aims to raise $1 billion a year to support schools and other educational programs. Republican lawmakers were unanimously opposed but Democrats held a supermajority in both chambers of the Oregon Legislature and pushed the bill through.

Oregon manufacturers fought hard against the bill, which levies a tax on most commercial activity inside the state. They argued it would have a pyramiding effect by levying a tax at each stage of their supply chains.

But some companies, notably Nike, were enthusiastic supporters. And the state’s largest business association, Oregon Business & Industry, agreed to remain neutral on the tax after lawmakers adopted exemptions for small businesses, groceries, hospitals and long-term care services.

There was no specific exemption for prescription medications.

Oregon’s new business tax State lawmakers aim to raise $1 billion a year in new business taxes, beginning in January. The money goes to schools and similar programs Here’s how it works: • Businesses pay a tax of 0.57% on sales inside Oregon above $1 million. Groceries, gas, hospitals and long-term care businesses would be exempt. • Businesses can subtract 35% of their labor or capital costs from taxable sales. • To offset anticipated increase in consumer prices, the plan cuts personal income tax rates by 0.25 percentage points for the lowest three of the state’s four tax brackets.

Oregon Sen. Mark Hass, an architect of the new business tax as chairman of the Senate’s Revenue Committee, said pharmaceuticals were one of many exemptions lawmakers contemplated when they considered a new business tax in 2017.

“This time around we wanted to be pretty strict on carveouts,” Hass said. Lawmakers narrowed the exemptions to basic services -- groceries, gas and health care, among them.

The vast majority of Oregonians have health insurance, and Hass said that will cover at least some of new costs pharmacies and drug companies pass on to consumers from the new tax.

Oregon Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer, lamented Bi-Mart’s decision Friday and predicted it will be “the first of many cuts by local businesses” as a result of the new tax.

“I am not blaming Bi-Mart at all,” Post wrote on Facebook. “This is due to continued ‘layering’ or ‘stacking’ of taxes on businesses in Oregon.”

The state has historically had among the lowest business tax burdens in the nation, according to an annual analysis by the Tax Foundation. That’s largely because Oregon has no sales tax.

The Tax Foundation, which advocates for lower taxes, says Oregon’s new tax will lower the state several places in the national rankings – though Oregon’s business tax burden will still be in the bottom third nationally.

Bi-Mart’s Leber did not immediately respond to questions Friday about why the pharmacy decision affects only stores in the Portland area and whether the retailer will discontinue any other services or products because of the new tax.

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699