Insult to injury

Nobody likes tax increases, but they're particularly pernicious when they're imposed on the people who are having the hardest time in life.

Right now in Oregon, unemployment taxes are about to rise for employers who have had the most layoffs. That means that businesses that have been hit the hardest by Covid are going to pay substantially more, and those that haven't suffered at all, aren't.

According to this story in the O (sorry, paywall, not my idea) –

20% percent of Oregon employers will have to cover nearly all of the projected $183 million increase in unemployment taxes during 2021.

Their burden will rise sharply again in 2022 under a formula that allocates cost increases over a three-year period. Some businesses estimate their average costs will rise by several hundred dollars, per employee, in each of the next few years.

So restaurants, gyms, small retailers and others that struggled to get through the worst of the pandemic could face years of hardship even if the pandemic recedes by spring.

As Salem and local governments throw relief money around over the next several months, they really ought to take note of this bad situation, and allocate accordingly.