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Public hearing held on bill allowing cities to tax long-term vacant second homes; League of Oregon Cities voices cautious support
Summary
Senate Bill 1095 would authorize cities and counties to impose a fee on noncommercial residences vacant more than 180 days per year. The League of Oregon Cities testified in support of the concept while urging further work on implementation and distribution of revenue.
The Senate Committee on Housing and Development held a public hearing March 3 on Senate Bill 1095, which would authorize cities and counties to impose a fee on noncommercial residences that are vacant for more than 180 consecutive or cumulative days in a calendar year.
Bradley, speaking for legislative staff, summarized the bill: "Senate Bill 1095 authorizes cities and counties to impose a fee on non commercial residences that are vacant for more than a hundred and 80 consecutive or cumulative days in 1 calendar year." (Bradley, LPRO staff)
Senator Broadman, who introduced the measure for the record, said the idea grew from the mayor of Sisters and conversations with home builders; the stated intent was to give local governments an option to offset local costs tied to vacant second homes and to provide tools for local analysis of impacts.
Jenna Jones, testifying for the League of Oregon Cities, told the committee the League supports the concept but urged careful implementation. "I think I will focus my comments on I don't know if it's necessary for cities to have statutory authority to do this. Cities have what's called home rule authority and so as long as the state says we the state doesn't say we can't do it, we can do it," Jones said. She noted counties may lack the same home rule clarity, and recommended more work on how revenue would be used and on guardrails for spending. Jones also raised a possible outcome: a fee on vacant homes "could just turn these into more rental properties, which would be good," but "it could also go the other way ... they could also just flip into Airbnb's." (Jenna Jones, League of Oregon Cities)
Committee action: The committee opened the public hearing, heard testimony, noted Mayor Letts of Sisters experienced technical difficulties and was invited to submit written testimony or testify by phone, and then closed the hearing to move on to other agenda items.
Next steps: No committee vote was recorded on SB 1095 at the March 3 hearing. The committee invited further stakeholder work on implementation details, including revenue uses and local analysis.
