Letters to the Editor: Sept. 26, 2025

Just keeping pace

I am not a landlord, but found it amusing reading the article about how rent prices have risen 54% from 2014 to 2024.

The article stated the median apartment rent in 2014 was $847, but by 2024, it had risen to $1,305 per month. During this same time period, my home property tax in McMinnville rose 49%.

Considering all the other cost increases associated with maintaining a building, it appears as though landlords are simply keeping pace with property tax increases. It looks like the city is as much culpable as it suggests landlords are.

Albert Endres

McMinnville

Taxed to the max

In 39 days, we will be asked to vote on another tax measure for city of McMinnville, this one for new parks and recreation facilities.

The city council has authorized $25,000 in taxpayer money to persuade you to vote “yes.” I will provide information on the bond here that it may not provide, and for free.

We are already paying on a $2 per thousand tax base for the new combined urban/rural fire district, a $23 million city street bond, a $90 million school bond, a $140 million community college bond, utility rate increases of 12% over the next three years, and a $13 a month “city emergency fee” on our utility bills, maybe forever. We’re also facing the prospect of a stormwater runoff utility fee of $10 to $20 a month.

You need to ask yourself, especially if you’re living on Social Security, or you’re among the 50% of city residents with less than $65,000 in annual household income, can you afford another $98 million bond added to your tax burden for the next 20 years?

Bill Bordeaux

McMinnville