...the price tag is known and the amounts paid by various parties clear. The tram is the best example of that.

Sorry, but you couldn't be more wrong Amanda.

Trimet and the State of Oregon have been assessed several hundred thousand dollars for the tram that they've, so far, refused to pay. They're arguing they don't own the property they've been assessed for. I was on the phone last week with both Trimet and the State of Oregon trying to resolve these delinquent accounts.

Homer Williams' Meriweather Condominiums all show they've been properly assessed for their share, and the dozens of lien accounts show paid and "satisfied". Except...nothing's really been paid. Not a penny has changed hands. Instead a "substitution of satisfaction" --a new debt, created on a different piece of property-- was used to "pay" them.

I had to explain to PDC why they didn't have to pay for an assessment against their property they'd previously bought from Homer Williams, because it was already "paid."

The tram assessments make my head hurt...

Clear?

To quote Randy Newman's theme song from Monk

I may be wrong now.
But I don't think so.
It's a jungle out there.
It's a jungle out there.

This is ridiculous! Thanks for the information, Frank, depressing though it is. At this point, I'm just trying to break down the expenses/payments into Tax Increment Funds - "new money", government (federal/state/city - "our money"), property owners, developers, and any other categories there may be. Perhaps if citizens could find a clear chart showing that, then we might realize that understanding which property owners are paying what, is just as convoluted.