Return of the ‘kicker'

The "kicker," Oregon's unique tax refund law, beloved by some, castigated by others, is back after a six-year hiatus.

Actually the law itself never left. But the conditions that kick-start the law and require the state to give back to taxpayers some of their income which the state collected, haven't occurred since 2001.

Here's how the kicker works: If the amount of income taxes the state collects exceeds, by more than 2 percent, the amount state economists predicted, then the state has to return the excess money to the people who earned the dollars.

Oregon officials estimate this year's median kicker refund check will run about $285. Checks will be mailed in mid-December.

The resumption of kicker refunds will no doubt rekindle the debate between Oregonians who like the law because the people who made the money ought to keep it, and Oregonians who'd like to rescind the law because the state might need that money during the next recession.

We're in the first camp. When Oregon's economy is thriving, the state is obliged to keep only as much tax money as it needs.

As for kicker refunds leaving the state in the lurch during recessions, that was a valid concern — "was" being the key word. Earlier this year the Legislature set up the state's first "rainy day fund" to deal with such shortfalls. The first $300 million deposit into that account came from kicker refunds that would have gone to corporations.

That, too, seems fair, considering Oregon's minimum corporate income tax of $10 per year. Besides, some corporations will recoup part of their losses when Oregonians, flush with their refunds, show up for a bout of last-minute gift-shopping.