Washington County staff propose preserving county control, delay tax cuts in response to MetroSHS reform

Washington County staff recommended on Dec. 17 that the county push back on several elements of Portland MetroArea proposals to reform the region's Supportive Housing Services (SHS) measure, preserve county-level flexibility over program dollars, and delay proposed tax-rate reductions until at least 2028.

The recommendations, delivered during a Washington County Board of Commissioners work session, asked the board to direct a county representative to press three main points at an upcoming Tri-County meeting: keep SHS expenditures within a county-controlled pool rather than creating rigid "buckets"; repurpose a portion of Metro's administrative funds for affordable housing and the regional investment fund; and avoid an immediate tax-rate reduction proposed by some regional stakeholders. "We don't want to shift too far from where we are. We don't want to create a bucket system. We don't want to silo funds to different types of investments," a Washington County staff member said during the presentation.

Why it matters: the county's proposals would change how revenues from the regional income-tax measure are allocated and how much predictability counties would have for homeless services and rent assistance. County staff said the recommended approach is intended to protect the county's "essential system" for people experiencing homelessness while still allowing some regional investment in affordable housing if additional revenues materialize.

County staff outlined specific fiscal and governance positions. They said indexing individual-income thresholds to CPI could be acceptable beginning in tax year 2026 but recommended moving indexing implementation back if needed pending more data. Staff also proposed a county-preferred tax-rate reduction of 0.10 percentage point (to 0.90 percent) only beginning in tax year 2028, a later start than some regional proposals. "That is based on the calculation of what Molly has done on our projected expenditures with its cost escalation and what we believe the revenues will do," the Washington County staff member said.

Staff emphasized that they were not proposing changes to the business tax, which staff said accounts for about 45 percent of collected revenue and remains off the table for reform. They also presented a proposed regional minimum: budget to the greater of 90 percent of Metro's forecast or a $330,000,000 floor across the three counties, with the counties receiving the remainder of funds after collection and administrative costs. Under the county proposal, the top 10 percent above the county budget would be held for affordable housing or one-time projects rather than automatically being moved to a separate Metro-managed bucket.

On Metro's administrative share, staff recommended that Metro reduce its administrative take by 25 percent and apply some of its carryover and administrative funds to affordable housing and the Regional Investment Fund. "Reduce Metro admin by 25% and carry over, to fund affordable housing investment and fund the regional investment fund," the staff presentation read aloud during the meeting.

Commissioners repeatedly pressed staff for evidence and timing. One commissioner asked whether Metro's stated objective of producing a bondable revenue stream for affordable housing was accurate; staff replied that forecasts show the revenue stream is volatile and unlikely to provide the multi-decade certainty Metro had implied. Commissioners also voiced concern about voter reaction to program changes and urged caution on timelines. "I think our voters are perfectly happy with the 1% rate. They'd love a reduction, of course, but still, it has an impact to the program," a commissioner said.

Staff described political and calendar pressures: Metro staff are scheduled to consider draft ordinances and policy packages in January, and regional stakeholders including the Portland Metro Chamber have publicly pushed for earlier rate changes. Staff warned the commission the region is under time pressure, and that the window between Metro's referral and ballot preparation is short.

No formal board votes or decisions were taken at the work session. County staff said they were providing recommended positions for commissioners to consider and expected to send a county representative to the Tri-County discussion and to Metro meetings. The board paused the work session to move to the auditorium for the scheduled 10:05 a.m. public meeting.

Sources and limitations: the account is based solely on remarks in the Dec. 17 Washington County work session transcript. Staff referenced forecasts and a December 10 "essential system" presentation; that underlying data and the detailed spreadsheets were discussed but not shown in full during the session. Specific allocations to individual counties, exact dollar splits per county, and final ordinance text remained unspecified in the meeting record.