I’ll address any recent reader questions or remarks that have come to my attention in today’s letter.
Question: I enjoyed the facts in your article about the costs of building a school. But you said that if the levy is approved, the owner of a typical home in the district, valued at about $230,000, will pay between $210 and $275 more in property taxes annually than they would have for the next thirty years. Could you please clarify why $230,000 is utilized while the average price of a Portland property is approximately $540,000? I think it is really dishonest and deceptive to our community members to use this low number. Is the average Portland home valued at $230,000?
I questioned Betsy Hammond, who assists in overseeing our coverage of politics and education. Her response: In Oregon, real estate is taxed on its assessed value, which is far lower than its market value, rather than its actual market value by voter-approved legislation. The majority of homes are evaluated using the 1995 evaluation plus an annual increment of 3%.
We therefore obtain this information from the tax assessor’s office when we state that the average home value in a jurisdiction is such and such. They use real assessments from their county (or a portion of their county’s assessments) to create it.
Based on the most current 2024 certified values, the median and average assessed values of a residential residence in the Portland Public Schools tax unit are $229,430 and $284,003, respectively.
Remark: I liked the map in the article about Portland’s Albina District. That brought back memories of the several occasions I wished there had been a map to accompany earlier articles. For instance, how about putting a little map of Morrow County’s solar farms in the same day’s paper?
I would have delighted to see a little map in earlier versions that showed the location of Oregon’s Grand Canyon. Where is Owyhee Canyonlands? The news frequently focuses on other nations. I’d want to remind you where they are.
The reader from Gladstone, a small city north of Oregon City and southeast of Portland, is correct. I frequently wish that The Oregonian would print a map, chart, or graphic. But as our newsroom grew smaller, we were less able to get a graphic from a staff artist or designer by the deadline.
The combined design team that creates the layout of pages for The Oregonian and a number of other Advance Local publications now includes graphic artists. We can create a map or graphic like the one that shows how the Albina district has changed over time, or the charts that demonstrate student performance that were published in the newspaper last Sunday, if we have a special assignment and enough time to prepare.
Occasionally, the lack of a visual component is only a bug. In the online newspaper’s December 1 issue, we reported that John Krasinski was selected the Sexiest Man Alive for 2024 by People magazine, however they neglected to provide a photo. People that are curious want to know!
John Krasinski, producer, director, and writer, attends the May 13, 2024, New York premiere of Paramount Pictures’ “IF” at the SVA Theatre. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File photoAgostini Evan/Invision/AP
Why are the first two panels absent from the Doonesbury edition published on January 19?
Answer: In my 2021 column, I provided my response to this query.The syndicates that supply us with comic strips do so in a variety of formats and shapes. The pages of comics we have selected for our readers are made by a vendor. The comic mixtures in other papers are different. It’s a puzzle to fit them on the page.
For this reason, the syndicates give page designers as much latitude as they can.
The syndicate claims that the first two panels are disposable. They don’t appear in every iteration and don’t always add to the joke. Not just Doonesbury, but most comics have this trait.
If they’d like, readers may always find the original at atoregonlive.com/comics.
Subsequent query: So the decision was unrelated to fear of reprisals and the censorship of a negative portrayal of President Donald Trump?
Response: That has nothing to do with anything.
After reading a recent column, I was curious about how much you censor letters to the editor. Perhaps you simply fix misspellings? Do you weed out letters with poor punctuation or grammatical errors? Do you get in touch with the author if you alter a letter? Perhaps you utilize SiC and leave it alone? Who creates the headlines for the letters?
Answer: I gave this to Helen Jung, the Opinion Editor, who is in charge of accepting reader submissions, such as letters and op-eds. According to her, we proofread and edit letters to ensure that they are accurate, clear, and consistent with our punctuation and grammar style. Although letter authors are free to express their views, we remove any excessively provocative language. Additionally, we include links for online readers to click for more background information or details on some of the facts referenced, as well as to select a headline. The headlines that letter writers provide with their work are frequently used by us.
Although we don’t usually get in touch with letter authors for minor modifications, we do so when there are significant changes to ensure that the updated version accurately conveys the author’s intentions.
Click here to learn more about letters to the editor.
Note: Ian revealed this week that I would be retiring this summer. Until then, I’ll keep writing regular columns. We appreciate you reading.
Reach me at oregonian.com/attbottomly.
