Add low-income housing managers and advocates to the list of
people and organizations speaking out against the proposed transportation fee.
By their calculation, the fee would impact nonprofit housing organizations
hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, including those housing the
disabled, elderly and others with no income – or car, for that matter.
The mayor’s office has already suggested, after blowback
from multiple business sectors, that the city would consider pressing the
street fee on households only, including low-income households. The city says
it needs the additional revenue to bring the city’s pavement system up to fair
condition and is about an hour away from conducting a public hearing before
City Council.
Oregon Opportunity Network, along with the 19 affordable
housing organizations it represents, has penned a letter for the City Council
in advance of the public hearing:
“Based on our understanding
of the current proposal, the impact on low-income residents, and on the
nonprofit organizations that operate on very narrow margins to house and
support those residents, would be severe. The flat fee concept, even at a
discount, will affect our tenants in a regressive way; Portland’s most
vulnerable residents living on fixed incomes or no incomes will be hit the
hardest.
“Moreover, as nonprofit
landlords working under strict federal and state regulation, in rent-restricted
units we cannot simply pass on rent increases to our tenants – even if they
were able to pay them. Adding to the financial burden of vulnerable residents,
as well as of nonprofits receiving scarce public dollars, will result in an
increased demand for other City resources and will thus put new strains
elsewhere on an already overburdened safety net/support system.”
The letter goes on to give
examples of the impact according to the city’s current rate proposal:
“The City’s largest provider
of affordable housing and services, Home Forward, has calculated that the total
fees for their organization and residents could range between $764,000 and
$1.06 million annually, depending on how Section 8 voucher holders are charged.
The list, and the impact,
goes on: Central City Concern – $100,000 (not including charges for medical facilities); REACH – $90,000 per year; Catholic Charities/Caritas Housing – $21,000
per year; Human Solutions – $40,000 per year; Northwest Housing Alternatives –
$36,000 per year; Hacienda CDC – $20,000 per year; Innovative Housing – $53,000
per year. These impacts are significant, and will have ripple effects on
housing affordability and the sustainability of these organizations and, most
importantly, the livelihoods of the people they serve.”
Street Roots came out against the street fee last week. Read editorial here.
This article appears in 2014-05-23.