Don McIntire, sponsor of 1990 property tax measure, dies at 74
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Don McIntire, the chief sponsor of the 1990 measure that placed limits on Oregon property taxes, was found dead Friday at his Gresham home. He was 74.
McIntire's wife, Romaine, confirmed the death. She said she was not certain of the cause.
McIntire was a longtime anti-tax activist best known for his role in the passage of Ballot Measure 5, which cut property taxes and largely shifted the responsibility for school funding to the state income tax instead of local property taxes.
"That property tax limitation saved Oregon property owners over $5 billion in its first 10 years alone," Steve Buckstein of the Cascade Policy Institute, a libertarian think tank, said in an online tribute page. "Every Oregonian who wants to keep government in check owes Don McIntire a huge debt of gratitude."
Measure 5 was approved 52 percent to 48 percent, and Oregonians have remained split on whether it was a good thing.
Supporters say it curbed government spending and provided needed tax relief. But opponents contend it has hurt public education. Though poor school districts started getting more money after the shift, other districts have seen programs cut and class sizes increase.
In a 1999 interview with The Associated Press, McIntire said school administrators who complain about inadequate funding were crying wolf. He blamed bloated "pay, perks and pensions" for any shortages in the classroom.
"The squeeze isn't coming from belt-tightening," he said. "School budgets are getting fatter faster than we can punch new holes in the belt."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
The true fact is programs and certain educational classes are being cut so the state can afford the outlandish and horribly expensive pension plan that Oregon has instigated because of UNION pressure to knuckle under. How is it that someone here can retire from $45,000/ yr. school job and get nearly $100,000 / yr in pension just a few years later? This is a total outrage and blatant ripoff government theft/fleecing of the public to support this insatiable monster fund. So don't blame property tax cuts, blame the UNION and the government cronies.
 @None "How is it that someone here can retire from $45,000/ yr. school job and get nearly $100,000 / yr in pension just a few years later?"
Proof or site your source please......
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 @B Smizzle  @None The Oregonian ran a story listing public employees making over 100k in retirement income. Many were making 300% of their actual salaries prior to retirement.
 @Independent Man  @None I knew you weren't telling the truth!  If you were you would have posted the article.  Let me guess, it was written in Crayon, that is why you remember it so well!  lol....your "facts" don't add up!
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 @B Smizzle  @Independent Man  @None Look it up yourself. If you want to know the facts.
 @Independent Man  @None Link to story please.......just because you say so does not mean it is true....cite your source.....
It didn't "cut property taxes" because the state just reassessed everybody's property, AND killed programs like the OSU schools of broadcasting and journalism (enjoy your liberal U of O graduates) after taking them hostage.
 @Playanekes I believe UO had a school of film too that was victim to this as well.
Every Oregonian should be greatful to this man for SAVINGS in the amount they would have paid in property taxes since 1990 !!
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Don't kid yourself - Without Measure 5 inacted we would be paying a lot more today!
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I remember it like it was 1990.  The voters got a whole lotta pucker factor after they voted, thinking they were keeping their property taxes down, only to wake up the next day and find that their homes had been reassessed to true market value and they no longer had any control over local school spending.  A real knee slapper, that election.
@Festivus  Yep, and then we got stuck with that dreadful measure #50 to curb rising assessments. what a gawd awful law that is.
"Good riddance". .????? Shame on you. What kind of a despicable human being you must be to be glad of someone's demise because you have a difference of opinion. You are part of the reason our society has lost civility !
 @Rob C 503Â
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The left wing are the most hateful people you will ever meet.
@Sam Adams Wrong, try extremists on either end, left or right.Â
@Sam Adams @Rob C 503 Oh pleeze. Have you listened recently the rants on Fox New and from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck. The right wing is just as hateful as some on the left. Open your eyes and ears.
@Playanekes  """" Rush Limbaugh calls liberalism a mental disorder""""
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BTW, it's Michael Savage who says that, he even has a book with that as the title.
You want to listen to hate, Give Mike Malloy a listen week nights on air head radio.  that is one bitter hateful man.
@Rob C 503 I was only responding to Sam Adams and his comment that liberals are the most hateful of people. I made absolutely NO reference to McIntire and his passing so my humanity as you insultingly put remains intact.
@peckishpete ......everything has to be politicized, eh? Even death?? That speaks volumes about your lack of humanity and a few of the other posters on here.
@kramr ok, I'll call you on that. I listen to Glen Beck and Lars Larson just about every day. Lars had the day off yesterday. The stand-in was much better. Rush Limbaugh calls liberalism a mental disorder. Suggesting that half of the country is mentally defective is the epitome of hateful.
@kramr ...how does the death of this man put you into a tirade about Fox News and rush Limbaugh. Perhaps you need to slow down. Not everything is a right wing conspiracy. Unless you are a Hillary Clinton.
@peckishpete """" Fox New and from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck. The right wing is just as hateful as some on the left."""""
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So PeePee,  how much time in the last month have you spent listening/watching GB, RL and Fox?????
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My guess is zero and you are just regurgitating the lefts talking points.
@peckishpete .....I responded to hateful remarks about someone who passed away. You went into a rant and a diatribe of your political agenda. Shame on you and your contribution to the destruction of respect and civility in this country.
@Sam Adams @Rob C 503 yet the rut are the ones who want to see loving committed couples have their legal rights stripped away. They're also the ones that constantly start wars against foreign nations. They're also the ones who seem to commit the majority of hate crimes. They're also the ones that believe that being gay is a choice and those who are should simply choose differently. They're also the ones who believe they have the right to impose their beliefs on women and gays. Seems like the right wingers are the hateful ones in this country.
@Postmortem Well said post
@Playanekes .......try staying on topic and here's a concept.......focus!
 @Ramsesthegreat and Sam. I have a lot of friends that are Democrats and a lot of friends that are Republicans. None of them are hateful and every one of them love this country . What I see with you two are people that scream out about other people being hateful while you yourself are hateful of anyone that doesn't believe as you do. The other day I saw a couple of regular posters here, one conservative, one liberal. They were talking about meeting and having a couple drinks and watching the VP debate. Their viewpoints differ, but the hate wasn't there. Because someone doesn't believe the same thing as you do doesn't mean they are a bad person.
@Rob C 503 he is talking to you lucidly. Sober up and you'll understand.
@Ramsesthegreat ........if you put down the joint, perhaps you could talk to us lucidly.
Good riddance. Measure 5 artificially inflated real estate prices by ~30% in one year of assessed value, and was only done because McIntire wanted to sell his gym which he did 2 years after the measure passed.
@BigNeil Ballot Measure 5 destroyed my university program my senior year at OSU and my family would agree with you 100% as to how the reassessed property values, but, I still wouldn't say Good Riddance. I'm not sure he realized that the state was just going to jack tax assessments and destroy school programs in retaliation.
@Playanekes He and everyone else were warned exactly how Oregonains would get screwed, and that's precisely what happened. He helped champion the measure in order to line his own pockets at the expense of the Oregon taxpayer without concern of how it would affect others. I stand by my original statement.
@BigNeil .......you owe this family a big apology !
 @Rob C 503 why, this guy sucked. I don't even care about his politics. he was a jerk.
 @Rob C 503 what...you sayin' you ain't a constitutionist? you'z un amerkican.
@on shing dao .......NUT JOB ,!
 @Rob C 503 yup. claimed to be a constitutionist but az we'z all knowz, da ownlee constitutionists belong to da KATU cammounity.
@on shing dao ......did you know him personally?