Supporters urge extension of brownfield tax incentive, citing high cleanup costs

Jenna Jones of the League of Oregon Cities testified in support of Senate Bill 99 on June 11, saying Brownfield remediation (for sites such as former dry cleaners or vacant lots) is expensive and that extending the property tax incentive program is a useful tool to encourage redevelopment.

"Brownfields, dry cleaners, vacant lots, any type of environmental contamination is expensive to remediate and a vital thing that we need tools to fight within our local jurisdiction so we can have productive uses of land," Jenna Jones said, urging the committee's support for the bill.

Rocky Dahl of the Oregon Economic Development Association described the program's intention to help prospective developers bring unusable properties back to productive use when the original responsible parties are not available to pay for remediation. Committee members asked about liability and the history of attempts to compel responsible parties to pay; witnesses and the committee discussed that locating and collecting from small or long-defunct owners can be difficult and that public remediation tools are intended to encourage redevelopment rather than substitute for enforcement where a responsible party can be found.

A witness summarized the policy trade-off by noting that property tax remediation programs typically exclude eligibility for responsible parties, aiming instead to attract new investment and capture increased property tax revenue once sites are redeveloped.

Chair Nathanson closed the public hearing on SB 99. The committee did not take a committee-level vote on SB 99 during this meeting.