In order to bring a proposed ballot issue in front of voters in November, the Metro regional government is anticipated to abandon its plans to put a revised homeless services levy on the May ballot.
Metro Council President Lynn Peterson told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board on Wednesday that the council will likely go there in order to give us a few more months to make sure we’ve crossed all the ts and i’s.
The announcement was made the day after a group of community organizations, business executives, and housing service providers who support the tax renewal announced that they would write to Metro to request that the regional government postpone putting the measure on the May ballot for revision and extension.
The Metro Council was supposed to vote by early February on whether to put the initiative on the May ballot after holding a public hearing and first reading of the proposal on Thursday.
This week, however, the council changed its agenda to include a second work session on the proposed measure on Thursday rather than a first reading.
For over a year, Metro officials have been trying to present a proposal to voters that would update and extend the tax, which was first approved in 2020 and has helped fund a significant increase in shelter beds, rent assistance, and other initiatives to combat homelessness in the counties of Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington.
Last week, Metro unveiled a plan that would cut the tax rate for individual households, extend the tax until 2050, improve spending monitoring, and permit a portion of the tax proceeds to be utilized for affordable housing. The bill would increase the income threshold at which the tax would begin to apply in order to adjust for inflation, although businesses and high-income persons would still be required to pay the tax.
Housing service providers, business executives, and other community organizations generally agree that there needs to be better planning and accountability for the use of the homeless services tax revenue, according to Angela Martin, director of Here Together, a political advocacy group dedicated to ending homelessness. According to her, there is also widespread consensus that additional funding is required to construct affordable housing and that a lengthy extension is required to enable providers to establish extremely effective systems of support and care for individuals experiencing homelessness.
However, Martin noted that there is still debate among those leaders on the appropriate tax rate and income threshold. Individuals who earn more than $125,000 or couples who earn more than $200,000 are currently subject to a 1% tax collected by Metro. For the past two years, the tax has generated more than $330 million in revenue.
Martin told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday that the tax package that brings us all together is where we are still negotiating. Our goal is to form an effective alliance that will last throughout the measure, not just on election day.
Metro voters are not very supportive of a proposed legislation, according to polling. Just 51% of Metro voters who were given a title and brief summary of the issue stated they would definitely or probably support it, according to a survey conducted in November.
The planned tax reforms, especially the idea of allocating an as-yet-unspecified percentage of tax revenue to affordable housing, have also alarmed the leaders of the three counties.
For The Oregonian, Lillian Mongeau Hughes writes about mental health and homelessness. For advice or inquiries, send her an email [email protected]. Or follow her on X at @lrmongeau or [email protected].
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