Spending the Kicker Checks

Here's what some of the local folks will be spending this year's kicker on...bills.  From today's Daily Courier.

Plans for locals who expect kicker checks uniformly turned to one topic. Vacations, fancy Christmas presents and shopping sprees were not among the plans listed by any approached recently at the Grants Pass Shopping Center and asked about the tax refund.

"I hadn't really thought about it," said Ravae Black of Grants Pass. "Probably pay bills."

"I don't know what I'll do," said Lana Rossiter, who was shopping with her son Sam. "Probably pay bills with it."

"Pay off debt," said another Grants Pass resident, Rocio Murillo.

"Pay bills," said Rogue River resident Lonnie Duron, who told her daughter, Shaunte Duron, that she can probably expect a kicker check, too, this year.

From an article in the Oregonian last week...

The timing is perfect for nonprofits. Not only is the state putting an average of $612 into taxpayers' pockets, but the checks will arrive during the peak giving season. So United Way, the Portland Art Museum, the Portland Schools Foundation and other groups are mentioning the kicker in their year-end requests for donations.

"It's a huge opportunity for people to give back to the community, and it's a huge opportunity for nonprofits to sharpen their message as to why it's important to support them," says Tripp Somerville of the Portland Schools Foundation. "It's a no-duh opportunity."

...

Oregonians tend to contribute more to charities when they have more financial resources, says Greg Chaille, who has been president of the Oregon Community Foundation for 21 years. The foundation publishes an annual report on charitable giving in Oregon, which totals more than $1.2 billion a year.

Chaille says he won't be surprised if 10 percent of the more than $1 billion in tax refunds makes its way into charitable donations. "In fact, I would expect it," he says, "given the past pattern of generosity by Oregonians.

The per capita income in Multnomah County is 50 percent higher than it is here in Josephine County.  Skipping the debate over who tends to give how much of their income to charity...

It's sport amongst Oregon's liberal elite to decry the kicker and lament the possibilities regarding what the state could be doing with the money.  Governments can always do more with more, but is that the best way that our money can be spent?  Letting the people who made the money pay off some of their bills, donate the money to charities, etc. isn't a bad thing.  And, only a tiny percentage of Oregonians trust the state enough to let it keep the kicker.