Historic Victory for Portlanders of Modest Means

Thanks to the collective efforts of Portland citizens, spearheaded by Affordable Housing NOW!, the City of Portland resoundingly supported a 30% TIF Set Aside for Affordable Housing at yesterday’s council hearing.

Looking at the next five years alone, this set aside will result in $125.5 million for housing for working families, people of color, seniors, people with disabilities, people in recovery and other Portlanders that have been left behind by the housing market. This is more than a $10 million increase per year over historic spending for affordable housing in Urban Renewal Areas.

Yesterday's Council meeting included two set aside related items.  The first was presentation of the Portland Development Commission’s adopted TIF set-aside implementation plan.  PDC’s current set-aside implementation plan differs from the set-aside ordinance introduced by Commissioner Sten and considered by City Council; PDC’s plan allows for averaging spending across some districts when calculating the set-aside.

During the Council meeting, PDC Chair Rosenbaum committed to Council that PDC would amend their plan to match the ordinance introduced by Sten that requires a minimum 30% set aside in each new urban renewal district.  City Council voted to table acceptance of the PDC implementation plan until PDC could return with a report that matched City Council’s ordinance.

The second set-aside related item was consideration and hearing on the set aside ordinance introduced by Commissioner Sten. Council indicated unanimous support for a 30% set aside as outlined in Sten’s ordinance. As is standard procedure, the City Council will cast a final vote on the set aside ordinance at a second reading.

Thanks to tremendous leadership of Commissioners Erik Sten, Sam Adams, Randy Leonard, as well as the support of Mayor Potter, Commissioner Saltzman, new PDC Chair Mark Rosenbaum and the rest of the PDC Commission, Portland has definitively taken the stand that housing matters.  We appreciate their hard work to make this set aside reality.

Some work remains as City Council and PDC have extended the process for determining income requirements for the TIF set aside.  AHN together with many partners have already reached consensus recommendations on what the income requirements should be and will be working to see these adopted as the official City policy.