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Bend staff review state tax‑exemption options as tool to spur affordable and middle‑income housing
Summary
City staff explained how local‑option property‑tax exemptions work, including Bend’s existing deed‑restricted rental and nonprofit exemptions and the state’s revised middle‑income exemption; members pressed for measures that would give developers earlier certainty and reduce interagency delays.
Carrie Bell, Bend’s affordable housing coordinator, told the Housing Production Strategy Committee that local‑option property‑tax exemptions are a customizable state tool the city can use to lower the cost of building affordable housing. She reviewed Bend’s two commonly used exemptions — an income‑qualified rental exemption and a nonprofit exemption — and described a middle‑income exemption that the Legislature recently adjusted to be more usable by market developers.
Bell said the statutes governing exemptions are listed in the Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 307, and explained a key logistical constraint: to secure a full exemption a project typically needs…
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