The first round of election results released Tuesday night show 82% of Salem voters opposed the payroll tax. 

The voters have repealed the payroll tax adopted by the City Council on July 10.  The tax was adopted by a 5-4 vote despite overwhelming written comments and public testimony in opposition to the tax and/or that the tax should be sent to the voters to decide. 

Those who voted to implement the tax without voter approval were:

Mayor Chris Hoy

Council President Virginia Stapleton (Ward 1)

Linda Nishioka (Ward 2)

Trevor Phillips (Ward 3)

Micki Varney (Ward 8). 

Those who voted against the tax were: 

Deanna Gwyn (Ward 4)

Jose Gonzalez (Ward 5)

Julie Hoy (Ward 6)

Vanessa Nordyke (Ward 7)

The Mid Valley Association of REALTORS® endorsed as well as supported the effort to refer the tax to the voters and then defeat the tax by contributing $2,500 to the campaign. Oregon REALTORS® contributed an additional $15,000 of Issue Mobilization Funds following requests from MVAR.

While REALTORS® support Salem’s emergency services, this tax was the wrong way to fund public safety in Salem.  The tax was too costly with no oversight for how the funds would be spent and no cap on future increases.  Businesses and independent contractors would have struggled to track when the tax applied to work being performed. 

Thank you to all REALTORS® who spoke out against the tax, helped gather signatures to refer the tax to the voters and for spreading the word to defeat the payroll tax.