Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oregon House restores 10-year special assessment to spur historic building rehabilitation
Summary
The House passed House Bill 3190 to reestablish a 10-year special assessed value for qualifying commercial historic properties to encourage rehabilitation, with oversight by the Oregon Historic Preservation Office.
House Bill 3190, a measure to restart Oregon’s historic property special assessment program, passed the House after proponents said it would incentivize rehabilitation of vacant and underused historic commercial buildings.
Representative Nous, the bill carrier, told colleagues the bill “restarts Oregon's special assessment program for historic properties” and allows owners who make appropriate improvements to freeze the taxable value of their property for 10 years so savings can be reinvested in rehabilitation. “That’s not a tax giveaway, mister speaker. It's a long-term investment in buildings that tell the story of Oregon and anchor our state's identity,” he said.
The bill is tailored to commercial properties and—according to the sponsor—administered by the Oregon Historic Preservation Office within Oregon Parks and Recreation. Representative Mannix added that owners must commit to spending up to 10% of fair market value on rehabilitation and accessibility improvements under the Americans with Disabilities Act as a condition of participation.
Supporters cited prior examples, including the Merwin Hotel in Astoria and a Salem food hall project, where the program helped create housing and new retail activity. Proponents framed the program as voluntary and intended to be budget neutral to the state.
The House voted to suspend the section-by-section reading and proceeded to third reading. The clerk recorded individual ayes during the roll; the measure was declared passed after receiving the constitutional majority.
What the bill does: it restores a program that allows qualifying commercial owners of historic properties to have the taxable value of improvements frozen for a 10-year period so that owners may invest savings in rehabilitation. The program is administered by the Oregon Historic Preservation Office (Oregon Parks and Recreation Department).
Implementation and next steps: the measure returns the program to statute and directs the historic preservation office to implement and oversee enrollments and ongoing compliance.
Votes at a glance: the House declared House Bill 3190 passed after roll call; named individual ayes recorded in the transcript included Representative Drazen and Representative Owens.
