Street Roots • March 24-30, 2017
E d ito r ia l
Page 3
Lawmakers need to revise state’s mortgage interest deduction
he time has come, Oregon. It’s time to
modify the state’s mortgage interest
deduction.
Of course it’s popular and of course people love
it. It’s a tax deduction, and an old one at that,
dating back to the earliest days of income taxation
when it was used to bolster business growth.
H
H
H
It has become, however, the
largest housing subsidy in the
United States, dwarfing the
funds dedicated to housing
Oregon’s most vulnerable
populations.
It is skewed to deliver the largest portion of the
subsidy to the wealthiest 20 percent of
homeowners in Oregon, with little evidence that it
accomplishes its stated goal: to encourage
homeownership - this in a state that is struggling
with a gross deficit in sufficient housing for middle
and lower incomes.
It’s time for a 21st century makeover.
House Bill 2006 was crafted by a coalition of
housing and social justice organizations, including
the Oregon Center for Public Policy, Coalition of
Communities of Color, Children First for Oregon
and Tax Fairness Oregon.
The bill would cap the mortgage interest that
can be deducted on state taxes at $15,000. That
figure captures most homeowners with a mortgage
up to around $350,000. (The median home price in
Portland is around $400,000, and minus the
average down payment, the interest on a home
that price would still be under the cap.)
It would also eliminate the deduction for
receive a different deduction for rental properties.
To the tune of nearly $1 billion this coming
biennium, taxpayers - renters, low-income
workers, all of us - are covering the cost to
support the purchase of million-dollar homes. At
what point should taxpayers be obliged to subsidize
a second home with an ocean view?
It’s nonsense.
The money retained - an estimated $290
million, according to the Legislative Review Office
- is earmarked in the bill for affordable housing
and supportive services to prevent homelessness,
including the Emergency Housing Account. Across
the state, in rural and urban centers, this money
could be a crucial safety net in preventing people’s
descent to the streets, particularly at a time when
federal intentions look increasingly dire.
The Realtors Association is the leading
opponent of this measure - as it has been with
similar efforts in the past. The association argues
it would remove a powerful incentive for buying a
home. But it’s a gross distortion to compare
popularity to an actual incentive to buy, particularly
in this market.
It s important to note what this bill would not
do. It does not touch the federal mortgage
deduction, which - with federal income taxes being
much higher - is a much larger benefit for
homeowners. On federal returns, the deduction
still extends to $1 million mortgages.
Speaking before the House Committee on
Human Services and Housing, which is sponsoring
the bill, homeowners, real estate agents and
in d iv id u a ls m a k in g m o r e th a n $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 o r
s e r v ic e p r o v id e r s te s tif ie d in fa v o r o f t h e b ill. A
T
$200,000 for couples filing jointly.
group of 24 economists from the states’ academic
A nd it w ould e lim in a te th e d ed u ctio n of in te re s t
in s titu tio n s s ig n e d o n to a l e t t e r s u p p o r tin g t h e bill
paid on mortgages for second homes, a change the
Realtors Association say could dampen the coastal
second-home market.
Across the state, we lack the resources to
support housing for low-income families, seniors
and people with disabilities struggling to stay in
their apartments, and that’s the fight?
Remember that landlords who rent out homes
as well, calling the state’s current deduction policy
“ineffective, inequitable and costly, at a time when
we face severe housing needs.”
The bill deserves the endorsement of our
lawmakers who, across the state, have seen the
devastating effects of our grossly distorted housing
market. Oregonians should let them know they
support updating the mortgage interest deduction.
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St,
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax; 503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
www.news.streetroots.org
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7:30
a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun.
by Elizabeth Considine
i
j
j
j
?
/
/
i
Advertising
Interested in advertising in Street Roots?
Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org
Staff
I
J
E xecu tive D ir e c to r Israel Bayer
i
israel@streetroots.org
ï
M a n a g in g E d ito r Joanne Zuhl
J
joanne@streetroots.org
Vendor Program Director Cole Merkel
cole@streetroots.org
Operations D ire c to r Sarah B eecroft
Sarah Cloud
P ro g ra m A s s is ta n t Meghann Van Pelt,
Jesuit Volunteer
Developm ent D ire c to r
D e v e lo p m e n t A s s is ta n t Patricia Romero
E d ito ria l A s s is ta n t Monica Kwasnik
R e p o rte rs Emily Green, Suzanne Zalokar,
*1
1
Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Jared Paben,
Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke
P h o to g ra p h e rs Diego Diaz, Joe Glode
Sheeptoast
j
j
4
C a n v a s s e r Desmond Hardison
■i
T'he Alternative Crisis (Press Conference
Board of Directors
C h a irm a n Brad Taylor
V ic e -C h a irm a n Rachel Langford
I
T r e a s u re r Heather Stadick
S e c re ta ry Dan Jones
D ire c to rs Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson,
Sandra Hahn and John Brown
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore,
Zoe Klingmann, Dan Jones, Daryl Hogan, Monica
McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas
Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani,
Jason Cohen, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah
Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana Richardson, Cherie
Manning, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne
Joyce, Del Shawn Davidson, Gillian Floren, Mark
OIDee, Meg Holden, Bridget Brown, Cody Travels,
Bianca Butler, Robb Hengerer, Alex Cherin, Tom
Vandel, Grace Gallagher, Jenny Farres, Evan Firsick,
Camber Hansen-Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry
Brannan and Helen Hill. If you're interested in
volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a
volunteer application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or
you can call for more information at 503-228-5657.
*
3 I