At the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, we believe in helping businesses prosper so our entire community may thrive. We value our partnership with Cherriots and recognize and appreciate the services it provides to our community.
In 2015, voters rejected the Cherriots-initiated employer-paid payroll tax ballot measure, which our community voted down to protect local small businesses. In the 2018 Legislative Session, promises were made, including strong business participation on the Cherriots Board to provide balance alongside its new legislative authority to raise taxes.
The Salem Chamber heard the voice of the community then and we still hear it today. On July 31, our organization hosted the Cherriots Board to present its 2026 employer-paid payroll tax plan to Salem and Keizer Chambers. As presented by the Cherriots Board team, the amount they sought is a 0.7% payroll tax, generating $39 million from local businesses to benefit approximately 4% of the Salem-Keizer population using the transit system. As this new funding mechanism quickly approaches, the business community has expressed its opposition. Since then, Cherriots has considered postponing implementation until January 1, 2027.
While our local business community provides the necessary tax base for government services, the Cherriots Board is unilaterally substituting its judgment over the needs and priorities of the entire Salem-Keizer community. Taxing $39 million from local businesses will hurt all employees and families. Every dollar of this employer-paid payroll tax is taken directly from small business budgets and will result in fewer job opportunities, reduced capital investment, higher prices for goods and services, and diminished charitable contributions. Our organization is asking Cherriots to refer this to a vote of the people via ballot measure or withdraw its implementation altogether. Local voters must decide whether we can afford new taxes – not the Cherriots Board.
At the Salem Chamber, we strongly believe that if Salem is to become a competitive market to expand or locate a business, we cannot afford to be the only transit district that would have a transit property tax, employee-paid transit payroll tax, and employer-paid transit payroll tax. We need to remove barriers to local business, not add more speed bumps to prosperity. The Salem Chamber urges all Salem-Keizer residents to implore the Cherriots Board to refer their new tax to a vote of the people.
