SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2018 | 7A
to bond funds creates a separa- Portland’s plan appeared so in- means raising property taxes. to private builders remains an
tion that proponents of the mea- efficient by contrast.
For citizens in small cities like obstacle. Such road blocks are
other private organizations. This
sure say hinders efficient devel-
Whatever the cause of dis- Florence, it’s a sacrifice many are not exceptional to Florence and,
delineation draws a clear line
opment.
crepancy, affordable housing hesitant to make.
for smaller cities, the lack of mu-
around public funds, securing
“If a local government pass- campaigners and politicians
“It would be a hard battle to nicipal housing infrastructure
them from private interests and
es a bond for affordable hous- soon identified a provision in get that approved by our voters,” like Portland’s Housing Bureau
limiting how they can be used.
ing, they can’t access federal tax the Oregon Constitution as said Florence Mayor Joe Henry. adds an additional institutional
Measure 102 proposes an af-
credits or state
hurdle.
fordable housing exception to
grants alongside
For propo-
“A lot of small cities and rural areas do not have the capacity to nents of the
that rule.
that bond mon-
The measure would amend
ey,” Wever said.
implement an affordable housing bond without this change. Mea- constitutional
this 1917 provision in the state
“A lot of federal
amendment,
sure 102 gives more local control back to those communities. It’s this is a key
constitution to allow the use of
tax credits are
local bonds to finance afford-
matching funds. just allowing another tool in the toolkit.”
problem
the
able housing developments,
You have to put
measure could
— Megan Wever, Statewide Coalition & Communications fix.
even when partnered with pri-
forward a certain
Manager of the Yes for Affordable Housing campaign
vate entities.
amount of the
“A lot of
The amendment would still
money to unlock
small
cities
require that these affordable
the
matching
and rural areas
housing bonds be approved
funds, and Oregon leaves funds holding the city back from le-
In the past, Florence has do not have the capacity to im-
by local voters and that the to-
like that off the table every year veraging additional funds for largely relied on private devel- plement an affordable housing
tal principal of any such bonds
because they don’t have the lo- the project.
opers or contractors to initiate bond without this change,” said
would not exceed 0.5 percent of
cal resources to match it. So it
A resulting constitutional affordable housing development Wever. “Measure 102 gives more
the real market value of proper-
would allow us to open up more amendment gathered momen- such as Park Village. Only in the local control back to those com-
federal resources.”
tum.
past few years has the city voiced munities. It’s just allowing an-
This year, in a Feb. 2 letter to interest in participating in the other tool in the toolkit.”
The Portland Story
State Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, process by making land avail-
Indeed, city councils around
Affordable housing is not a chair of the House Commit- able at affordable costs or even the state have voiced their sup-
new issue to Oregon and related tee on Human Services and for free.
port for the measure, as has the
problems such as homelessness Housing, Portland Mayor Ted
The Neighborhood Econom- League of Oregon Cities, an in-
and increasing rent prices have Wheeler wrote, “Allowing local ic Development Corporation tergovernmental entity which
become more salient in larger governments to leverage general (NEDCO), a community devel- frequently advocates for home
cities like Portland. As such, obligation bond proceeds, such opment nonprofit serving Lane, rule authority and effective mu-
Measure 102 was strongly advo- as the $258.4 million affordable Marion and Clackamas coun- nicipal governance.
cated for by Portland City Hall. housing bond approved by Port- ties, is the first to take Florence
Proximal effects, though, are
In 2015, the Portland City land voters in 2016, will increase up on its offer. The city’s land not expected by Florence’s may-
Council declared a state of hous- the financing available for af- donation at 1424 Airport Road or.
ing emergency, which encour- fordable housing and maximize has paved the way for NEDCO
“We have an immediate hous-
aged more funding for housing, overall resources.”
to build 12 units of affordable ing need,” said Henry. “This is a
loosened rules on where shelters
A proposal to amend the state housing.
long-term thing and what this
could operate and fast-tracked constitution was introduced to
“So there’s an example of a requires is that cities actually
affordable housing projects.
the Oregon Legislative Assem- public/not-quite-private part- find somebody with capital to
The following year, Portland bly by the House Interim Com- nership to develop affordable partner with to build affordable
voters approved their first af- mittee on Human Services and housing,” said Henry.
housing.”
fordable housing bond, which Housing. In just over a month, it
While Florence’s projects have
Florence’s difficulty in find-
proposed to raise $258.4 million had passed both chambers near- primarily been privately driven, ing those partners may forestall
over 20 years. While the bond ly unanimously.
projects like that with NEDCO any benefits seen by passing the
was directed toward preserv-
At the same time, Metro, the represent its first attempt to do measure.
ing or creating 1,300 affordable Portland area’s regional govern- any kind of private/public enter-
“This bill could open up addi-
housing units, critics pointed ment, has proposed Measure 26- prise, though Henry is circum- tional opportunities for that, but
out that far more units could 199, a $652.8 million affordable spect about the word “partner.” I don’t think they’re very short-
have been included if private housing local bond measure to Oregon law prevents a full fi- term in nature,” said Henry. “I
developers had been allowed to be voted on this year. Passing nancial blend.
believe that the idea behind this
participate.
Measure 102 would allow Metro
“We are participants up to a measure is a good one. I think in
Comparisons were drawn to utilize federal tax credits and point where we want to provide the longer term, it might allow
Dr. James Ridley,DDS
FREE CONSULTATION
to the city of Denver, which in state grants on top of this bond. incentives for (affordable hous- Florence to help solve some of
206 Nopal Street
the same year passed its first af-
To hammer the point home, ing) to happen,” he said. “So far, the housing issues we have.”
See the
fordable
housing
bond
as
well.
Metro
has created two road- nobody’s really stepped forward
Florence, OR 97439
DentureMaster’s
Denver’s bond plotted out a 10- maps under its local bond plan, other than NEDCO.”
All Good in the ‘Hood?
difference, we do
it all right here!
year development plan of 6,000 promising 3,900 permanent af-
This is where Henry finds
Portland provides a testing
units at a cost of $150 million, fordable housing units should room for improvement.
ground for how these benefits
leading many to question why Measure 102 pass, but only
“It’s been fairly difficult to might be implemented, but it
2,400 if it fails.
do any affordable, high-density remains the only city in Oregon
housing because of our codes to have passed an affordable
Beyond Portland
and our restrictions — cost of housing bond. Treading into
Th e Siuslaw News Presents:
Outside the Portland area, land and so forth,” he said.
these uncharted waters with lit-
the need for affordable housing
Though the city has made tle precedent worries some who
is also felt, but passing bond attempts to provide incentive, question what unforeseen pit-
measures to develop housing making the landscape attractive falls lay ahead, reflected in the
five “no” votes the measure
received in the Senate.
State Sen. Alan Olsen of
LAW
S
INDOOR
OUTDOOR
District
20 was one of those
U
SI
opposed.
“The reason I oppose it is,
SIGNS & BANNERS
it’s too nebulous,” he said. “You
never give government unfet-
VEHICLE GRAPHICS
tered access to your funding
C
I
& G R A P H
without some kind of guide-
VINYL LETTERING
lines … to direct how they
STICKERS & CLINGS
'ų
spend the money.”
Olsen’s argument finds
8
WINDOW GRAPHICS
popularity among those con-
cerned with government waste
YARD SIGNS
and inefficiency. Allowing ac-
cess to public money without
clearly outlined oversight or
2QWKHFRUQHURI th 6WUHHW +LJKZD\
guarantees raises eyebrows
for some — “Especially when
you make it a constitutional
amendment,” he added. “One
of the problems I have is that
(715 Quince St.)
‘affordable housing’ is not de-
fined in the law. So everybody
that can borrow money gets to
define what they consider to
We sell and install all types of garage doors,
be ‘affordable.’”
as well as garage door openers.
(please bring a canned food item to donate for Florence Food Share)
When a bond is voted on,
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Olsen said, it’s not always clear
where that money is going to
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“We don’t know what ‘af-
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fordable’ is. We don’t know
the terms,” he said. “When
we allow them to borrow the
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so we don’t know what the
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Cel
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However, proponents of the
70 brat
+ Y ing bill cite the mandate for each
ear
local bond to prepare its own
s!
definition of “affordable hous-
ing” as among the bill’s strong
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“You’ll have to convince
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ty in that jurisdiction. Addition-
ally, it mandates that “affordable
housing” be defined for each
bond.
If Measure 102 fails, bond rev-
enue for the construction of af-
fordable housing would remain
restricted to projects which are
fully owned by local govern-
ment.
“That makes a lot of sense
when you’re talking about
bridges, roads and court hous-
es,” said Megan Wever, statewide
coalition and communications
manager of the Yes for Afford-
able Housing campaign. “But it
doesn’t make sense when you’re
talking about affordable hous-
ing.”
Affordable housing develop-
ments often draw funding from
multiple sources to make a proj-
ect viable, but preventing access
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