Olympia residents press council to pause 8-year multifamily tax exemptions; consent calendar including two MFTE projects approved

A crowd of residents pressed the Olympia City Council on Monday to halt or narrow approvals of 8-year multifamily tax exemptions, saying the program largely benefits market-rate developers and shifts property-tax burdens to other homeowners and renters.

At its Nov. 3 meeting, the council heard more than a dozen speakers during public comment who said the city should pause the MFTE program, require stronger affordability conditions, or pursue alternative tools such as inclusionary zoning or community land trusts. Jim Lazar, one of the in-person commenters, said the two consent items before the council "would give ... about $3,000,000 in subsidies for their projects" and that "this is just reverse Robinhood action." Larry Jezza and Rhonda Larson Kramer told the council that MFTEs primarily increase developer profit margins and asked the council to seek transparent, measurable…