City planning and community development staff told the Eugene Planning Commission on Dec. 2 that severe rent burden remains a major local problem and outlined programs and policy work intended to address it.

Amber Friedman, an associate planner, said a household paying more than 50% of its income on housing is considered severely rent burdened. Using 2023 and 2025 local data, she said Eugene has over 38,000 renter households and about 12,000 of them — roughly a third — are severely rent burdened. Friedman said 62% of renter households experience some level of rent burden and reported median 2025 market rents of about $1,403 for a studio and $3,565 for a four‑bedroom. She also reported eviction court filings rose from 1,284 in 2023 (82% for nonpayment) to 1,700 in 2024 (87% for nonpayment).

Genevieve Middleton, affordable housing policy and planning manager, described city funding and program tools including federal grants (HOME and CDBG), the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (seeded by the city's construction excise tax; since 2019 roughly $4,000,000 identified in the presentation supporting hundreds of homes), fee‑assistance and a 20‑year low‑income rental property tax exemption (LRPD). She highlighted rental rehabilitation, preservation activities and recent renter protections that cap some fees, require application processing order, and require relocation assistance under specified circumstances.

Leah Rausch outlined the Urban Growth Strategies Project and the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis (ONA). Using the 2025 ONA, staff said Eugene must plan to accommodate more than 26,000 new dwelling units over the next 20 years and will need to produce roughly 1,600 units a year — about 70% more annual output than in the previous decade — with a significant share targeted for low‑income households. Staff said they will bring a contextualized housing need analysis and a housing production strategy to the commission in 2026–2027.

Commissioners pressed staff on trends and metrics. Commissioner Beeson asked whether the city is making progress; staff said cost burden trends are worsening and pointed to state and local dashboards and an upcoming 2026 evaluation of renter protections by Echo Northwest that will provide additional comparative analysis.