Bend advisory board recommends no Phase 2 transportation-fee discounts for childcare or affordable housing for now

Members of the Bend Economic Development Advisory Board on Feb. 3 recommended that the city not adopt discounts or exemptions for childcare facilities or multiunit affordable housing when it implements Phase 2 of the transportation fee.

The recommendation followed a staff presentation from Sarah Hudson, who outlined the project timeline, data limitations and preliminary revenue impacts if the board chose to exempt those categories. Hudson said the presentation aimed to supply a “decision point recommendation around exemption, or discount options.”

Why it matters: Council directed staff to analyze whether particular nonresidential uses should receive reduced charges. The board’s recommendation will be provided to city council as the staff and elected officials finalize the Phase 2 approach and schedule for adoption.

Key details

- Staff data caveats: Hudson and other staff emphasized imperfect datasets. The transportation fee’s Phase 2 relies on business-registration NAICS data cross‑walked to ITE trip-generation categories; staff said roughly 60% of accounts currently have sufficient data. Hudson said the estimates are preliminary and account-level detail may change the picture.

- Revenue-impact estimates: For standalone childcare facilities, staff estimated the average Phase…