Take a look at what you were paying for electricity, water or other bills just a handful of years ago and you’re sure to get a shock. Costs for all of these services have skyrocketed since the pandemic years, and for low- and middle-income people, that’s meant making choices between everyday indulgences and paying the bills; between buying new things or making do. For others, the results have been even more dire, with housing insecurity still rampant in our community.
The rising costs have affected individuals, but they’ve also impacted local governments that are working to provide the services we continue to rely on. Inflation affects all sectors of the economy, and for the City of Bend and its leaders, that’s meant making tough choices to raise some fees, such as the transportation fee added to residents’ water and sewer bills.
But this month, City leaders did something that many people say they don’t often see: They listened and responded. Instead of raising fees on City utility bills for the third time, as was part of a plan to pay for street maintenance, the Bend City Council opted to pause that fee increase, citing the rising costs for businesses and residents. While the money is still needed, City leaders say they recognized that there’s a limit. That decision seems to be in line with a report from Gov. Tina Kotek’s office that came out last week, which asserted that lowering fees on businesses was one way to re-ignite the state’s economic prospects.
People often complain that the City of Bend doesn’t listen. We read about it often on forums like NextDoor and Reddit. This, then, is a time when the City actually is listening, and responding. The decision won’t delay the fee increases forever, but for now it’s a welcome reprieve. No one likes potholes, and we’ll have to pay for their repair somehow.
It’s notable that one of the reasons cited for the fee increases was a decline in gas tax revenue from the state. In 2016, voters in Bend rejected an effort to increase local gas taxes, an initiative that City leaders at the time said would mean the tourists who use our roads would also pay their share. We’ve always supported the notion of getting tourists to contribute more, since we live in a community with no sales tax. We were disappointed to see that effort fail, and to now see those costs borne primarily by locals. During the discussion about pausing the next phase of the transportation fee, City officials brought up the notion of a gas tax again. Our voter base has changed since 2016, and we’d wager the idea would have more support than it did back then.
We live in a growing city that needs both new infrastructure and maintenance of what already exists. We believe the City Council did what it thought was right when it initiated the transportation fee, however, we also feel the cumulative effects of that controversial decision, made without the direct buy-in of voters. Meantime, the City Council has passed a lot of other ambitious measures, like the natural gas fee and a tree code. These have raised the temperature of the electorate. Perhaps a looming City Council election is a cause for the fee pause, but in any case, it is good right now, for businesses and individuals, to see some financial relief.
This article appears in the Source July 2, 2026.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Let’s drill down a bit on this editorial. The pause on the transportation fee is a sign of election year reality in light of the 80% defeat of the Governor’s gas tax deal. The “pollution fee” is essentially meaningless since its effective date coincides with effective date of the state law requiring heat pumps. By the way, China, India and Vietnam are adding coal fired plants at a unprecedented pace so if you are worried about carbon, check out the data. The good idea of tourists paying their share can be accomplished with local room tax increases, not gas tax increases. Who knew room tax revenue is 14% of the general fund? Who can recite what Visit Bend does with the $5 million they get per year of the room tax revenue?
There is much to be concerned about when more and more luxury apartment development is being subsidized in Bend by taking future increases in property taxes out of the general fund and Parks District funding through the TIF process-which is highly inflationary to local development and places pressure on finding new sources of revenue. If you think that subsidy is going for affordable housing, well, it’s hit and miss at best. In the meantime the internal city chatter is how to implement new fees that don’t need voter approval because there is zero public support for new taxes. Oh, sorry, maybe 20% support. The housing, housing, housing focus should be education, education, education given that Oregon is now at the very bottom of student performance and at the middle/higher end of school funding. So what’s up with that?
If the city wants more revenue, give us the real data and then give us a vote. Stop with the fee for each shiny object that comes across the council dais.
The op-ed says, “In 2016, voters in Bend rejected an effort to increase local gas taxes, an initiative that City leaders at the time said would mean the tourists who use our roads would also pay their share. We’ve always supported the notion of getting tourists to contribute more, since we live in a community with no sales tax. We were disappointed to see that effort fail, and to now see those costs borne primarily by locals.”
I’m no fan of locals but I’m even less a fan of tourists. Last time I checked tourists pay a tax on every gallon of fuel they buy in Bend, and without tourists Bend would be a ghost town. The tax on the electric bill is evidence of two things: 1) Bend’s leaders are incapable of allocating the money they have to the right priorities; 2) Bend gets the leaders it deserves.