Citing the need to make Portland more family friendly and to respond to the challenge of unmet housing need, the Portland City Council passed by a vote of 4-0 a resolution to establish a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) set aside for the development, preservation, and rehabilitation of housing that is affordable to households with incomes below 80% of median family income.

“Portland is very fortunate to have elected officials that truly understand the needs of low income working families, and seniors and people with disabilities depending on fixed incomes,” said Teresa Huntsigner of the Coalition for Livable Future. “Thanks to the leadership of Commissioners Sten and Adams, the City took a giant first step to securing significant resources to create rental and homeownership opportunities for those being left behind by Portland’s housing market.”

The resolution instructs the Portland Development Commission work in partnership with the Bureau of Housing and Community Development, the Office of Management and Finance, the Housing and Community Development Commission, and Affordable Housing NOW! and other interested stakeholders to develop and present to Council by September 1, 2006 either a implementation plan to create such a set aside fund or other options to ensure guaranteed funding for housing affordable to households with incomes below 80%MFI.

“Establishing the details of the level of the set aside, how the set aside will work in existing urban renewal areas, and how to deal with urban renewal areas that are zoned exclusively for industrial use will be crucial to meeting the intent of today’s resolution: maximizing public resources to meet the identified housing need,” said Ian Slingerland, executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants.

Creating an urban renewal set aside for affordable housing has been a central target of Affordable Housing NOW! since the coalition’s inception four years ago. Affordable Housing NOW! supporters turned out in large numbers for today’s hearing, with representatives from the Community Development Network, City Club of Portland, Stand for Children, the Coalition for a Livable Future, and four tenant leaders from the Community Alliance of Tenants delivering strong testimony.

Orlisa Deschene, a former renter that lived in the Gateway Urban Renewal Area was evicted from her home shortly after it was declared an urban renewal area.  With a baby due new any day, Deschene was left to scramble to find a new home.    

“Urban renewal should benefit the entire community,” said Deschene.  “It should improve the existing community, not wipe it out in order to build a new one.  Affordable housing must be a priority in urban renewal areas not an after thought.”

Members of Affordable Housing NOW! were most pleased with aspects of the resolution that specified allocation guidelines to meet the housing needs of people at 0-30% MFI, 31-50% MFI, and 51-80% MFI, and the requirement PDC work with BHCD and the City Auditor to report on spending of TIF for housing at all income ranges (rental and ownership) over the past 10 years against all TIF revenue (by district and overall), as well as the budgeted and projected TIF spending for housing in these income ranges over the next 5 years against projected revenues.

Sten Resolution on Housing and Schools

In addition to the Council's support of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) set aside, Council all agve its unanimous support to a resolution introduced by Commissioner Erik Sten that will launch a focused effort to retain and attract families with kids in our public schools, and to stabilize families otherwise subject to needing to move frequently from school to school.

"We’ve all been struggling to come up with a way to solve the problems in our schools," said Commissioner Sten. "Local commitments and the good news from the state will help to stave off the immediate crisis. While we are close to finding a solution that will get us through the next year, I think we need to take a step back and stop improvising. We should write a script for the future of Portland. The City of Portland needs to be a permanent partner in this effort, and family housing is a critical piece of the puzzle."

Click here to download the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) set aside resolution and the Housing and Schools resolution.

Mayor’s Proposed Budget Maintains Housing, Economic Development Programs

Mayor Tom Potter released his proposed budget on April 18, and the news for affordable housing is good.  Following almost all of the recommendations of the Saltzman-Adams budget team, the Mayor’s proposal allocates roughly $6 million general fund dollars and $400,000 in ongoing funds to off set the Bureau of Housing and Community Development (BHCD)’s budget shortfall created by federal cutbacks and programs that had been funded with one-time money in the 2005-06 City budget.

Programs receiving funding in the Mayor’s proposed budget include the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, the preservation and development of affordable housing for hardworking families, seniors and people with disabilities, closing the homeownership gap for people of color, and BHCD’s highly successful economic opportunity program.

BHCD received a 21% funding cut comprised of cuts to federal HOME and Community Block Grant programs, a potentially devastating blow to an array of programs that provide housing and economic opportunity to Portland households relying on low incomes, and a potential gap in programs left by the expiration of one-time funds that the City allocated in the 05-06 budget.

The next opportunity for public comment on the 2006-07 Portland budget is the Citywide Community Budget Hearing taking place on Thursday, May 11, from 6:30 to 8:30PM at the Metropolitan Learning Center Auditorium (2033 NW Glisan). For more info & childcare/interpretation inquiries, call (503) 823-5288. If you have special needs, call (503) 823-4519 in advance; TDD: (503) 823-6868

Housing Alliance Update: Joint Interim Revenue Committee Hearings 5/17, 6/1

The Oregon House and Senate Revenue Committee members are holding day-long hearings on affordable housing on May 17 in Medford and June 1 in Salem.  The Housing Alliance is organizing testimony and turnout for both hearings to promote the 2007 Housing Opportunity Agenda.

These hearings—the first day-long hearings focused just on housing in at least 15 years--are an unprecedented opportunity to explain about the importance of adequate funding for affordable housing to members of the Joint Revenue Committee. We need YOU to attend one or both of these hearings. Housing Alliance members from Southern Oregon are poised for a large turnout for the Medford hearing, and we need to match that effort in the Metro area and Northern Willamette Valley.

Medford, May 17                        Salem, June 1

9 AM to 3 PM                                     10 AM to 3 PM

Medford City Hall                                Location TBA

The Housing Alliance is renting vans and buses to bring people from Portland to the June 1 Salem hearing.  If you are interested in riding along on the Housing Alliance bus, please RSVP to Amy Fauver.

Housing Alliance Endorsement Campaign

Another way that you can help further the 2007 Housing Opportunity Agenda is to help collect endorsements from organizations that support housing opportunity. The Housing Alliance endorsement campaign is hoping to get 500 endorsements of our $100 million for Homes for hardworking families and our neighbors on fixed incomes and our effort to lift the pre-emption that prohibits local communities from using inclusionary zoning platforms by the time the Legislative session opens in January 2007. If your organization has not yet endorsed these efforts, make it happen before the June 1 hearing!  To download the endorsement forms, click on these links:

$100 million for Homes for hardworking families and our neighbors on fixed incomes

Give local communities the freedom to create affordable housing

Members of the Housing Alliance believe that hard-working people should be able to afford housing and still have money left for food and basic necessities. To learn more about the Housing Alliance, go to: http://www.oregonhousingalliance.org/

The Tax Reform Act provisions of 1986 created the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program to encourage the development of rental housing for low-income households.  Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) is responsible for allocating the State's annual per capita and non-competitive credit authority in accordance with an approved Qualified Allocation Plan. The Draft 2007 Qualified Allocation Plan is available for public comment from April 10, 2006 through May 10, 2006.  For more details, visit our LIHTC page on our Web site at:

http://egov.oregon.gov/OHCS/HRS_LIHTC_Program.shtml

Oregonians Pay More Than Their Share Because Corporations Pay Less

Oregonians are paying more than their share of taxes this tax day because corporations are paying less, according to a new analysis of long-term changes in Oregon income and property taxes, released today by the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP).

“This tax day, Oregonians are victims of the Great Corporate Tax Shift,” said Michael Leachman, policy analyst at the OCPP.

The study finds that in the next budget cycle (2007-09) corporations operating in Oregon will pay just 4.5 percent of all state income taxes, leaving the other 95.5 percent to personal income taxpayers, including many small businesses. In the mid-1970s, corporations paid 18.5 percent of state income taxes.

“Multi-state corporations are the main beneficiaries of the decline in the corporate income tax,” said Leachman. “These companies reap 87 percent of the taxable corporate profits in Oregon. Because they garner most of the profit, they get most of the benefit when income taxes on profit are reduced.”

The decline in corporate income taxes is primarily because Oregon gives corporations numerous tax breaks and because corporations abuse tax shelters that lawmakers never enacted or intended to allow.

“Tax breaks and tax shelters are driving the decline in corporate income taxes,” said Leachman. “Oregon needs to put the ‘income’ back in the corporate income tax,” he said.

The study also found that Oregon has shifted property taxes away from business property, including property owned by large corporations, and onto Oregon homeowners. A generation ago, in 1978-79, households paid 50 percent of all property taxes in Oregon. Businesses paid the other half. In 2003-04, households paid 60 percent of property taxes, compared to 40 percent for businesses. The shift in property taxes away from business property and toward households is primarily the result of Measure 50 - a property tax cut passed in 1997.

“Measure 50 was passed at a time when business property values were lagging behind residential property values,” said Leachman. “It locked in lower rates for business property, leaving homeowners today with a larger share of the tab.”

The difference is costly to Oregon homeowners, the study found. If households still paid half of property taxes, instead of 60 percent, they would have saved nearly $500 million in 2004 alone. That savings, instead, has gone to Oregon businesses, including large corporations who own property here and have benefited from the decline in the corporate income tax.

“Households got the short end of the stick from Measures 5 and 50,” said Leachman, referring to two property tax cuts passed in the 1990s. OCPP’s study found that property taxes on business properties are 65 percent lower today than they would have been without Measures 5 and 50 and the associated tax shift to households. Property taxes on residences, by contrast, are 49 percent lower than they would have been without Measures 5 and 50.

“Unless Oregon restores a fairer balance between the taxes paid by corporations and families, the Great Corporate Tax Shift will continue to exacerbate Oregon’s fiscal problems and undercut Oregon’s future economic strength and quality of life,” said Leachman.

The Oregon Center for Public Policy uses research and analysis to advance policies and practices that improve the economic and social opportunities of all Oregonians.

Last year, a coalition of more than 30 grassroots organizations – including CDN, the League of Women Voters of Portland, Money in Politics Research Action Project, Oregon Action and others representing tens of thousands of Portlanders – called on City Hall to create a more level and fair playing field for campaigns.

The need for change was clear.  The old big money system was broken.  It was unfair, heavily favored incumbents, and worse, locked out everyday Portlanders from genuine participation in the process.    In fact, since 1970, the highest spending candidate has won more than 85% of the time, and only five incumbents have been defeated.

The special interests that benefited most from the old system -- like PGE, Qwest, Gard & Gerber and the Portland Business Alliance – are now opposing Voter-Owned Elections because it limits their power and influence.   They spent $350,000 in their failed attempt to put a repeal on the May ballot, and another $450,000 on city candidates in 2004 alone – and almost certainly will attack Voter-Owned Elections again.

Special interests have also wasted little time in exploiting start-up issues as an excuse to return to the old, big money campaign system.   Our coalition takes the violations by the Boyles campaign very seriously – we were the first to call for a full investigation – but the actions of one campaign shouldn’t obscure the fact that Voter-Owned Elections is already reducing the cost of local elections and creating more genuine opportunity for community involvement.

Voter-Owned Elections put people – not special interests – at the center of system, since a $5 contribution counts just as much from an everyday Portlander as from a utility executive making $700,000.   It creates a more open and fair system for everyday Portlanders to control their government again.

Get more information at friendsofvoe.org or call 503.283-1922 to get involved!

Each year, our health care system takes a bigger slice of personal, business and government budgets, yet it does not provide access to the services our community needs. A big part of the problem is that no one has responsibility for health care planning.

The Make Health Care Work Plan is a plan to help address this problem. The campaign is calling on Metro – the agency that handles planning for our region – to pass the 3-point Make Health Care Work Plan to give the community a voice in health care planning. 

1.   Metro would establish a community Health Care Needs Board comprised of people who consume health care, local businesses and groups who buy health care, and frontline caregivers who provide health care.

2.  This Board would evaluate our regional health care needs and create a Comprehensive Health Care Needs Plan.

3.  Once we have a Comprehensive Plan, the Board would prepare Health Care Impact Statements before any major health care proposals are approved.  This will help us make sure our communities get the services we need where we need them. 

To show support for giving the community a voice in health care planning. Go to www.MakeHealthCareWork.org or call 503-236-7850 to learn more.

Design Guidebook Helps Enhance Communities & Protect Natural Resources 

Poorly planned development can significantly impact a community’s natural and cultural resources. Communities want their economies to grow without losing what makes them attractive places to live and visit.

The 65-page guidebook Design Guidelines to Enhance Community Appearance and Protect Natural Resources describes planning considerations, tools, and best management practices to create a more visually appealing community. The guidebook features color photos that address twenty of the most common development issues including: signage, lighting, historic preservation, landscape character protection, visual corridors, pedestrian accessibility, shoreline development, storm water management, and more.

“We wanted a tool that would provide local decision-makers and citizens with a menu of options,” explains Joan Chadde, Education Program Coordinator for the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. “People don’t realize they have choices. The choice is not whether to grow, but how? What kind of development? Where should you put it? What should it look like?”

The Design Guidelines guidebook may be purchased for $5 each by credit card, check, or purchase order.  Send payment to: Joan Chadde at jchadde@mtu.edu, fax 906-487-1620, or phone 906-487-3341. For more information, visit: http://www.wupcenter.mtu.edu/.

The guidebook is being disseminated at citizen planning workshops, conferences, middle/high school classes and teacher professional development. The Smart Growth Network selected the guidebook for inclusion on their Smart Growth Shareware CD being distributed to 10,000 communities nationwide.

“Thank you for the excellent resource. My presentation using the pictures and recommendations from the guidebook was very well received by everyone, local government officials and citizens alike. I am certainly going to recommend this guidebook to communities in both of my counties,” states Jasneet Sharma, Land Policy Educator for Michigan State University Extension.

Funding for the development and publication of the guidebook was provided by The Dunn Foundation, Wege Foundation, Smart Growth Network, and Americana Foundation, along with contributions from the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, Houghton Rotary Club, and League of Women Voters of the Copper Country.

For More Information: Joan Chadde 906-487-3341 or jchadde@mtu.edu

FHCO Presents Fair Housing Training on April 28 & May 9

Learn the basics about fair housing laws and how it might affect the work you do, the program(s) you oversee, how it might assist others you come in contact with. The training is presented by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO), a private non-profit agency dedicated to promoting equal access to housing through education, outreach, technical assistance and enforcement opportunities related to federal and Oregon fair housing laws.  For more details, visit our Events & Training Web page at: http://egov.oregon.gov/OHCS/COM_EventsTraining.shtml

2006 Veterans Stand Down and Job Fair May 3

For the fifth year in a row, Central City Concern’s West Portland One Stop (WPOS) will host the Stand Down, a job- and resource fair designed to help homeless veterans network with potential employers, local service providers and other community partners.

“The Stand Down concept provides veterans with intensive services and employment opportunities,” said Steven Carreker, the Veterans Grant and Per Diem Program project director. “Every employer and program involved in this event is "Veteran Friendly" and ready to assist in every way possible. This is an event in which homeless veterans can gain momentum and new confidence in their work in – and toward – self sufficiency. During this Stand Down, every veteran in this region can be part of a special group to which we continue to express gratitude and extend support.”

The Stand Down connects vets with the services they need to become self-sufficient, and employment is high on the list. A variety of local employers are represented at the Stand Down including DePaul Industries, Pacific Coast Fruit, and Swift transportation among many others. Veterans’ Service agencies also attend including the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Administration, and the Army Reserves, among others. There will also be a variety of other onsite resources such as free haircuts, free legal advice and free hygiene kits. The first 200 participants will also receive a free lunch.

Last year, 163 vets attended the Stand Down and participation is expected to be even higher this year. Such high attendance illustrates the growing need for outreach and advocacy efforts in this unique population but it also shows the high level of commitment from local business leaders, service organizations and community stakeholders in supporting veterans.

The event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 3^rd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ambridge Event Center. For more information about the Stand Down, please contact Terry Leckron, Director of West Portland One Stop/CCC Workforce Program, at (503) 226-7387.

About the Agency: Central City Concern (CCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency serving single adults and families in the Portland metro area who are negatively impacted by homelessness, poverty and addictions. Founded in 1979, CCC has developed a comprehensive continuum of affordable housing options and direct social services including healthcare, recovery and employment services. The mission of CCC is to provide pathways to self sufficiency through active intervention in poverty and homelessness.

About the WPOS: The WPOS, host of the Stand Down, is a job resource center operated by Central City Concern. Open to the general public, the WPOS is best known for its culturally appropriate employment services for homeless and low income clients. The WPOS also has a number of special programs designed specifically to serve homeless veterans trying to rejoin the economic mainstream through long term retention of employment.

The May 8 Oregon Alliance for Land Use and Affordable Housing (OALUAH) General Meeting will feature a presentation on the attempt of the successor owner of a 47 unit mobile home park in the City of Garibaldi to evict all the residents of the park and the response of the residents and their three attorneys to ensure that the full rights of the residents under Oregon law were protected in the process.  The talk focuses on how this was done both strategically and tactically, before City tribunals, justice court, circuit court, LUBA, the court of appeals, and politically. 

This talk is presented by Michael F. Sheehan, one of the attorneys for the residents.  Mr. Sheehan is both an Oregon attorney and a professional economist.  He has been active in low income, housing, labor, municipal and land use issues as an Oregon attorney since 1988, often closely allied with Legal Services.  As an economist he specializes in the areas of public finance, public utility regulation, and regulatory issues generally.  He has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California and his law degree from the University of Iowa.  He is admitted to the practice of law in both Iowa and Oregon.  He has published widely in journals and chapters in books.  Sheehan has published on franchise fees, affiliated transactions abuses, and a variety of other regulatory issues, including over 35 articles in professional journals and chapters in books. 

OALUAH General Meeting details:

Monday, May 8, from 6:45 – 8:30pm at Portland State University’s Smith Memorial Union, Room 225 (Visit http://www.pdx.edu/map.html for the PSU campus map). Eating food is permitted inside the Smith Memorial Union and several restaurants are within walking distance.  Please feel free to bring your meal or snack to the General Meeting.