I found this article via a post at a Facebook site. You may be surprised at what the cost of government operation and programs in our state of Oregon actually costs each of us. ..... Or perhaps not since we all feel that pinch in the pocket not only when we pay our quarterly or annual income taxes, but also when we buy gasoline or other consumer goods on which state taxes are imposed. ~~~ S. Lane
How Much Does State Government Cost Each Oregonian?
By Steve Buckstein
http://www.cascadepolicy.org/pdf/fiscal/2008_18.pdf
State Representative Kevin Cameron (Salem) has done Oregonians a great service by putting together a chart showing how the All Funds Budget has grown over the last two decades, adjusted for population increases. The revised chart below uses his numbers and also calculates how much smaller the All Funds Budget would be per person if it had grown only at the rate of inflation.
The chart makes the state budget much more transparent and useful for average citizens. $48 billion means little to the average person. Showing us that state government is now spending $6,376 per year for every man, woman and child in the state is something we can get our arms around. That’s $12,752 per couple per year and $25,504 per family of four each and every year. And these numbers are for state government only. Cities, counties, school districts, etc., add much more to the government spending pie.
Taking Rep. Cameron’s chart one step further, the final column below makes clear that if the All Funds Budget had grown just with inflation and population since 1985, today it would be around $3,850 per person per year, not the $6,376 that it actually is. That restraint could have left over $2,500 each year from now on in people’s pockets, rather than in government’s.
How Much Does State Government Cost Each Oregonian?
By Steve Buckstein
http://www.cascadepolicy.org/pdf/fiscal/2008_18.pdf
State Representative Kevin Cameron (Salem) has done Oregonians a great service by putting together a chart showing how the All Funds Budget has grown over the last two decades, adjusted for population increases. The revised chart below uses his numbers and also calculates how much smaller the All Funds Budget would be per person if it had grown only at the rate of inflation.
The chart makes the state budget much more transparent and useful for average citizens. $48 billion means little to the average person. Showing us that state government is now spending $6,376 per year for every man, woman and child in the state is something we can get our arms around. That’s $12,752 per couple per year and $25,504 per family of four each and every year. And these numbers are for state government only. Cities, counties, school districts, etc., add much more to the government spending pie.
Taking Rep. Cameron’s chart one step further, the final column below makes clear that if the All Funds Budget had grown just with inflation and population since 1985, today it would be around $3,850 per person per year, not the $6,376 that it actually is. That restraint could have left over $2,500 each year from now on in people’s pockets, rather than in government’s.
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