Port Orchard land use committee reopens debate on multifamily tax exemption, asks staff to set work study

The Port Orchard Land Use Committee resumed a discussion June 18 about whether to reinstate a multifamily tax exemption program aimed at encouraging housing development, directing staff to schedule a work study to present options and data.

Nick Bond, Port Orchard community development director, told the committee the city "asked that we revisit MFTE later in the year once we wrapped up all of our housing mandates," and presented data on growth, vacancy and the program's costs and administrative burdens. Bond said the committee should consider targeted uses of MFTE — for example, encouraging mixed-use redevelopment or small-scale infill — rather than returning the program in its previous form.

Bond told the committee that Port Orchard’s adopted comprehensive plan allocated 10,500 new residents from 2020 through 2044 and that the city has already added 3,675 residents; he said recent growth rates of about 4.6% to 6.6% would exceed the plan’s targets unless growth slows. "At the rate that we are growing, we are gonna blow past our PSRC targets," he…