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Senate committee advances bill to expand housing-authority property tax exemption, clarifies loan priorities
Summary
The Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 684A to clarify loan-repayment priority for a proposed construction revolving loan fund and moved the bill to the floor with a "do pass" recommendation and referral to Ways and Means.
The Oregon Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue on Monday adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 684A that clarifies loan-repayment priority for a proposed construction revolving loan fund and expands property tax-exemption eligibility for mixed-income housing owned by housing authorities.
The amendment approved by the committee — the A6 — specifies the repayment-priority rules for loans issued by the Housing and Community Services Department under the bill. Committee members then voted to send SB 684A, as amended, to the Senate floor with a “do pass” recommendation and a referral to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
Victoria Via, an architect who said she works on multifamily affordable and mixed-income projects in Northwest Portland, testified in support of the bill. Via described financing fragility for affordable projects and called the state construction revolving loan fund “a crucial tool” for keeping developments moving when a single funding source fails. She said the mechanism would be especially important amid uncertainty in federal funding.
Vice Chair McLean moved adoption of the A6 amendment; the committee chair declared the amendment approved. After discussion, the committee moved the amended bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation and prior reference to Ways and Means. The chair closed the public hearing and work session on SB 684A.
Why it matters: SB 684A would expand the property tax exemption available to housing authority rental properties to include certain mixed-income projects and would authorize lending strategies for the Housing and Community Services Department, including a revolving loan fund designed to support construction. Committee members described the A6 as a clarification of the loan priority and lending options rather than a substantive policy change.
No fiscal or detailed statutory citations were introduced during the committee’s discussion beyond references to the bill text and the A6 amendment.
