NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Tax incentives available
for housing developers
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
A housing report com-
piled by city of Hermiston
staff has found tax incen-
tives for subsidized hous-
ing but few options for
incentivizing developers to
build market rate homes.
“All of those are really
targeted toward affordable
housing,” City Manager
Byron Smith said, adding
that the city needs housing
“of all types.”
One option in the report
presented to the city coun-
cil last week is the New
Market Tax Credit, which
offers a federal tax credit to
investors for certain types
of projects in low-income
census tracks. The credit
is mostly for commercial
development, but is avail-
able for mixed-used proj-
ects where less than 80%
of the gross rental income
is from residential units.
Another federal tax
credit is the Opportunity
Zone credit, which applies
to one of Hermiston’s cen-
sus tracts west of High-
way 395 between Orchard
Avenue and South Punkin
Center. It allows develop-
ers to defer capital gains
taxes on certain devel-
opments, including res-
idential, in low-income
neighborhoods.
The city could declare
a portion of town a Ver-
tical Housing Develop-
ment Zone, allowing a par-
tial property tax abatement
on multi-story, mixed-
use projects in the zone,
if all of the residential
units in the project are for
low-income residents. The
report written by Herm-
iston City Planner Clint
Spencer stated the criteria
involved made it a “chal-
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Subsidized housing is under construction on Southeast Fifth Street in Hermiston. Most tax
incentives for housing are for low-income options.
lenge to think of a property
that might benefi t from this
designation.”
The state also allows
some property tax abate-
ments for affordable apart-
ment projects in places the
city has declared a “tran-
sit-oriented development”
zone. Properties within
one-quarter mile of one of
the stops for Hermiston’s
HART bus system would
be eligible to be included
in a zone.
“This is an intriguing
possibility for Hermiston,”
Spencer wrote. “There is
considerable
residential
land within a quarter-mile
of a bus stop. It may be
worth doing a targeted par-
cel inventory to determine
if/where parcels which are
of suffi cient size, vacant,
and properly zoned exist.”
The city could also
slowly increase property
taxes to newly annexed
properties over 10 years
instead of asking prop-
erty owners to pay the full
rate starting their fi rst year
inside city limits. That
option could provide incen-
tive to developers building
just outside the city limits.
The city council asked
staff to compile the incen-
tives report earlier this year
as part of the city’s ongoing
efforts to increase housing
availability. Other efforts
have included changes in
zoning and reducing some
requirements for rules,
such as lot coverage.
City Councilor Jackie
Myers said the city’s efforts
to build and improve infra-
structure in town can also
help incentivize develop-
ers. For example, the new
water tower and water
mains the city is install-
ing in the northeast part
of the city will provide the
water pressure develop-
ers need to build housing
on acres that were previ-
ously too cost-prohibitive
to develop.
Several new hous-
ing projects have been
announced in Hermiston
this year, including a sub-
sidized apartment complex
under construction off of
Southeast Fifth and Sixth
streets and subdivisions off
of Theater Lane and Elm
Avenue.
Health educator coming
to Umatilla County
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
The Umatilla County Pub-
lic Health Department will
start looking for applicants
to fi ll a new health educator
position.
The full-time health edu-
cator position was approved
by county commissioners last
week.
The work will involve
local health data analysis,
communicable disease inves-
tigations and education on
the prevention of communi-
cable diseases, such as sex-
ually transmitted infections
and measles.
“We have a fair amount
of communicable diseases in
our community,” said Public
Health Department Deputy
Director Alisha Southwick.
“We’ve had positions like
this before, but it will be a lit-
tle different. This is going to
be a full-time person, whose
focus is on education and
epidemiology.”
She said that in the past,
nurses and environmental
health staff have been respon-
sible for disease investiga-
tions in addition to regular
duties, while it’s a primary
focus for the health educator.
The educational compo-
nent of the job will initially
focus on educating and pro-
viding consultations to health
care providers about dis-
eases. But Southwick said
that possibly over time, the
person might be involved
with schools or other public
facilities.
Southwick said the depart-
ment plans on posting the
job in the next few weeks,
and hopes to hire someone as
soon as possible.
The position will be
funded using modernization
grant money from the Ore-
gon Health Authority, which
became available this month.
“I think the most excit-
ing thing about this is that it’s
made possible through this
modernization grant,” South-
wick said.
The funds total $202,425,
and are part of a $15 million
OHA investment approved
by the Oregon Legislature
this year.
Of that money, $7 million
was distributed among Ore-
gon counties to help increase
equity, leadership, epidemiol-
ogy and communicable dis-
ease control for the biennium.
Legacy Financial opens Hermiston offi ce
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Financial planning ser-
vices are available at the
newly opened Legacy Finan-
cial offi ce in Hermiston.
Legacy Financial is based
in Woodburn, but brokers
Robert Rhoades, Stan Milne
and Laura Dix will take
turns visiting the Hermiston
branch four days a week to
advise clients.
They are independent
brokers through LPL Finan-
cial, and bought the Herm-
iston business from former
LPL brokers Bruce Jones
and Tom Nichols, who are
retiring. They purchased
the building at 285 E. Hurl-
burt Ave. from Jones and
Nichols, and will also retain
the same phone number at
541-567-3100.
Rhoades said so far the
transition has been going
well as they meet with the
former brokers’ clients. He
said Woodburn and Herm-
iston are similar in many
ways, and they have expe-
rience forming relationships
in small towns. They’re not
“downtown Portland” bro-
kers, he said.
“We want to get involved
in the community,” he said.
He said their specialty is
working with people who
are retired or close to retire-
ment. He has 25 years of
experience in the business,
Milne has 35 and Dix has
10.
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