Second Tax Credit Auction Draws Few Bidders

You may recall that last month the state tried to raise some cash by auctioning off 1,500 tax credits worth $1,000 each. If all of the credits had been purchased for the minimum bid amount of $950 apiece, that would have brought in more than $1.4 million, which was earmarked for renewable energy grants. But lawmakers, who authorized the tax credit auction, severely overestimated the appetite for these credits. Just 408 of the credits sold, bringing in less than a third of the potential revenue.

So, the Department of Revenue and the Department of Energy--the two agencies in charge of running the tax credit auction--decided to go for round two. Well, the results are in...and not too many Oregonians will be getting tax credits in their stocking this year, apparently. The Department of Revenue reports that just nine people submitted bids for a total of 55 tax credits purchased.