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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2020)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2020 Gov. Brown wants tax for affordable housing Voters would make the decision By DIRK VANDERHART Oregon Public Broadcasting Eight years ago, amid a cratered housing market, Oregon voters decided the state shouldn’t impose taxes when real estate changes hands. Now, with sky high prop- erty values helping to cre- ate a housing and homeless- ness crisis , Gov. Kate Brown wants them to reconsider. The governor’s offi ce has fi led a resolution for the leg- islative session that starts Monday asking voters to amend the state constitution to allow for real estate trans- fer taxes, which are assessed when property changes ownership. House Joint Resolution 203 would exempt the fi rst $500,000 of a property’s value from taxation. The governor has not proposed a tax rate nor set a goal for how much revenue she’d like to raise, her offi ce says. But she is certain about where money from a new tax should go: “to fund or fi nance affordable housing.” “Outside of how we build, construct and develop housing, we don’t have an ongoing dedicated source of funding to provide the ser- vices,” said Shannon Single- ton, Brown’s housing policy Colin Murphey/The Astorian Aff ordable housing is a challenge in Clatsop County. adviser. “Local jurisdictions don’t necessarily have the ability to meet service level needs without some sort of new revenue.” If it gets traction, Brown’s resolution would become the latest high-pro- fi le housing proposal slated for the 35-day session . Ore- gon Public Broadcasting fi rst reported that House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Port- land, plans to ask lawmak- ers to declare a housing state of emergency , and she will push a $120 million pack- age meant to help commu- nities establish shelters and provide housing. But Brown’s idea also would dredge up a debate Oregon last had in 2012. At the time, housing prices in the state had bottomed out from the G reat R ecession and were just beginning a rise that continues today. Realtors and business groups poured millions of dollars into Measure 79, which created a prohibition on real estate transfer taxes in the state constitution. Oregon statutes already prohibited localities from creating such taxes, but Measure 79 proponents wanted more certainty. They made hard-to-prove claims that cities around the state had been plotting to institute transfer taxes, and that such a move would create another burden for homeowners and prospective buyers. “We are very concerned about anything that would make a terrible housing sit- uation even worse,” the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce wrote in a vot- ers’ pamphlet statement. “With property val- ues declining, it is unfair to impose additional taxes on struggling middle class families and Oregon busi- nesses,” chimed in the Ben- ton County Farm Bureau. Opponents countered that the measure was unnec- essary and would add unneeded complexity to the state’s constitution. Mea- sure 79 wound up resonat- ing with voters and passed with nearly 59% of the vote. As a result, the c onstitu- tion now prohibits any “tax, fee or other assessment upon the transfer of any interest in real property, or measured by the consideration paid or received upon the trans- fer of any interest in real property.” A 0.1% transfer tax that Washington County had in place when the mea- sure passed was allowed to continue. Shaun Jillions, a lobbyist for the Oregon Association of Realtors, said Brown told him last week she’d be intro- ducing the measure, but said she “wasn’t going to push it very hard this session.” Still, the group was “extremely concerned” to hear of the plan, he said. “We do not feel like a real estate transfer tax is the right approach to funding societal needs,” Jillions said. “We’re taking it very seriously.” The governor’s offi ce contends it’s time Oregon started considering transfer taxes again. If her measure makes the ballot and passes, hard details about any tax would be decided by state legisla- tors . States around the coun- try have adopted a wide range of taxing structures for property transfers. “Let’s bring this back into the conversation and at least bring it back before voters to see if at this point in time with the data that we have … is it time to revisit,” said Singleton, who formerly led the Portland homeless ser- vices organization JOIN. “It’s not something that ever stops being talked about in the housing community. We always need to be talking about additional revenue sources.” In absence of trans- fer taxes, lawmakers have turned to other mechanisms to raise money for afford- able housing. In 2018, the Legislature raised the fee county clerks collect for recording docu- ments from $20 to $60, dou- bling the money the state raises for affordable hous- ing. Realtors supported that change after it was paired with a provision allowing fi rst-time homebuyers to set up tax-free savings accounts. Lawmakers have also repeatedly considered nar- rowing the state’s tax deduc- tion for mortgage interest payments, a move aimed at raising tens of millions of dollars for affordable hous- ing. Those proposals have been opposed by real estate agents . New innovative housing project opens in Portland A community for Native Americans By ERICA MORRISON Oregon Public Broadcasting ‘WE HAVE, PER CAPITA, THE LARGEST HOMELESS POPULATION IN PORTLAND SO WE AS A TRIBE ARE LOOKING TO ADDRESS THOSE NEEDS.’ ment and recovery plans. The association will also provide access for children, youth, adults and elders to a slate of services, including primary and specialty care provid- ers, women’s health support, a diabetes program, as well as dental and mental health services. The journey to Nesika Illahee began in 2016 when Community Development Partners, an organization focused on developing and sustaining affordable hous- ing, bought the plot of land on N.E. 42nd Avenue . After reading the report authored by Portland State University and the Coalition for Communi- ties of Color, Eric Paine, CEO of Community Development Partners, said the overrepre- sentation of Native commu- nities in poverty and home- lessness inspired them to partner with Native American Youth and Family Center and Native American Rehabilita- tion Association of the North- west to create housing for the Native American community. “It’s an innovative proj- ect that has never been done before. No one has ever used Indian b lock g rant funds in order to fund a project or cre- ate a preference for Native Americans in off-reserva- tion urban setting,” Paine said during the ribbon-cutting cer- emony. “It’s really a ground- breaking idea.” Paine said that Portland State has received funding to write a report teaching oth- ers how block grant funding can be utilized to serve the community. If you drive down n orth- east 42nd Street in Portland’s Cully n eighborhood, you may come across a sight that has become very familiar: a shiny new apartment building in a changing neighborhood. But this building is special. It’s a 59-unit affordable hous- ing complex developed to Delores Pigsley | chair address the disproportionate of the Confederated Tribes rate of homelessness among of Siletz Indians Native Americans . “We have a lot of tribal members that live here in Portland, that have lived here preference to applicants for generations and we are whose head of household is able to provide housing for an enrolled member of the some of them,” Delores Pig- Confederated Tribes of Siletz sley, chair of the Confeder- Indians or the household ated Tribes of Siletz Indians includes a minor or depen- said during a ribbon-cutting dent child who is an enrolled Siletz tribal member. ceremony. The name of the commu- Second preference goes to nity is Nesika Illahee, which households with at least one translates to “Our Place” in member enrolled in a feder- the Chinook language. The ally recognized tribe, Alaska 53,000-square-foot building Natives or tribes recognized includes a mix of units fea- by states and included in the turing studio, one, two- and Native American Housing three-bedroom apartments. Assistance and Self Determi- There are laundry facilities nation Act. on each fl oor and spaces for Nesika Illahee will also residents to gather and host support tenants in recovery, events. Throughout, walls are with the help of the Native adorned with murals and art- American Rehabilitation work by Native American Association of the North- artists. west. Residents will be asked Nesika Illahee is the fi rst to sign a drug-free and alco- housing complex to receive hol-free lease policy. A certi- the U.S. Department of Hous- fi ed drug and alcohol coun- ing and Urban Develop- selor will work with residents ment’s Indian Housing Block to support them with treat- Grant to build housing in an urban environment. Typically the funds are used to build on reservations. “We have, per capita, the largest homeless population in Portland so we as a tribe are looking to address those needs,” Pigsley said. A vari- ety of funders contributed to the development of the $17.7 million community, but a key player was the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. According to Oregon % Housing & Community Ser- vices, the Siletz Tribe now secured Call now for your Call for your off select $1.7 million in Indian Hous- off select free in-home consultation! Signature Series ing Block funds. 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