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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The city of Portland on Monday ordered Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and reporter Monica Samayoa to withhold information about payments made by companies to the city’s clean energy fund, according to court documents. filed a lawsuit.
The lawsuit stems from a 2023 OPB public records request asking the city to release 2022 tax records related to the voter-approved Portland Clean Energy Community Benefit Fund. would apply a 1% tax to Portland companies with national sales of $1 billion or more.
But the city of Portland denied the request, saying taxpayers have a right to confidentiality under Portland city law and Oregon state law, according to court documents.
In response to the public records request, the city said, “All elements of this request are reported on the tax return, and the financial information of the taxpayers (without amounts stated) will provide a list of taxpayers.” It is protected/confidential because it can also be derived by they paid),” court documents state.
After the city denied the public records request, OPB petitioned Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt to order the city to release the tax information.
On Jan. 8, District Attorney Mike Schmidt granted OPB’s petition in part, ordering the city to release some of the records without linking individual company names to amounts.
OPB declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes after the city announced in December that it received a $540 million windfall from taxpayer funds. The city said the funds will go towards established climate change programs, including converting the city’s fleet to electric vehicles, retrofitting affordable housing and replacing gas-powered leaf blowers.
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