{"id":7181,"date":"2020-08-31T19:55:25","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T19:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=7181"},"modified":"2020-09-08T21:04:08","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T21:04:08","slug":"central-oregon-realtors-support-mixed-use-development-and-affordable-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/central-oregon-realtors-support-mixed-use-development-and-affordable-housing","title":{"rendered":"Central Oregon REALTORS\u00ae Support Mixed Use Development and Affordable Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Under the Oregon land use system, which imposes careful expansion limits on its urban areas, any municipality in the state must first demonstrate efforts to develop infill and increase density before it seeks to develop beyond its designated Urban Growth Boundary. The Bend City Council voted in August to do just that through the creation of an urban renewal area funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The project, which promises to bring mixed-use development, affordable housing, and better connectivity to the city\u2019s \u201cCore Area\u201d adjacent to downtown, is enthusiastically supported by the Central Oregon Association of REALTORS\u00ae (COAR). The vote wasn\u2019t assured, however, so the REALTORS\u00ae helped out with a member and consumer call For action through Advocacy Everywhere<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were concerned by a certain level of misinformation circulating within the community,\u201d says Tyler Neese, COAR\u2019s Government Affairs Director, who notes that there were broad assumptions that the Tax Increment Financing meant a tax increase, or a new tax entirely. In fact, he explains, TIF does neither: it only flattens taxes temporarily for some districts, re-directing theoretical future revenue to the Core Area.<\/p>\n

To show support for the proposal, and to help clarify confusion surrounding TIF, COAR turned to the REALTOR\u00ae Party\u2019s Advocacy Everywhere<\/a> program, which helped them to launch a call for action using email and REALTOR\u00ae Party Mobile Alerts<\/a>.\u00a0 In addition to reaching REALTORS\u00ae, the campaign also created a link to be shared with consumers. COAR\u2019s effort ran concurrently with a focused campaign led by a local environmental group, also in favor of the Core Area Project; the local business community and businesses in the Core Area were also eager to see more traffic and strengthened infrastructure in that part of town. \u201cWe certainly can\u2019t take the credit, but this broad support underscored the fact that the plan was a sound, balanced approach to redevelopment in the Core Area,\u201d says Neese.<\/p>\n

The combined effort definitely made an impact. Especially in relatively small cities like Bend, says Neese, an onslaught of emails in an elected official\u2019s inbox will get serious attention. One City Councilor, who is also a REALTOR\u00ae, told him how compelling it was to see that volume of communication. At the end of the day, it was a success, with a virtual vote of six to one.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, COAR will remain engaged on the issue, at the table and making certain the eventual development of the Core Area brings the diversified housing that Bend needs. \u201cThe Core Area Plan represents a key opportunity for commercial and residential development, and we\u2019re committed to making sure affordability remains part of the equation,\u201d assures Neese.<\/p>\n

And he can\u2019t say enough about the value of Advocacy Everywhere<\/a>. \u201cWe try to use calls for action sparingly, to maintain the potency of a very effective tool,\u201d he notes. \u201cI mean, elected officals vote on a lot of issues \u2013 last year, legislators took up a resolution to decide what the official state dog would be,\u201d he laughs, adding, \u201cThe REALTORS\u00ae love dogs as much as anyone, and might have something to say about it, but we\u2019re focused on the housing issues that are going to affect our communities most. When we need them, the CFAs get results.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about how the REALTORS\u00ae of Central Oregon are supporting opportunities to maximize mixed-use development and affordable housing in the city of Bend, contact Government Affairs Director Tyler Neese<\/a> at 541-382-6027.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the City Council of Bend, Ore., was considering creating an urban renewal area, the proposed Tax Incremental Financing was causing confusion among residents. To clarify that it didn\u2019t mean new or higher taxes, and to show support for the project, the Central Oregon Association of REALTORS\u00ae launched a call for action.","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,296],"tags":[655,26,1512,1611,1610,454,657,580],"class_list":["post-7181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-advocacy-everywhere","tag-call-for-action","tag-central-oregon-association-of-realtors","tag-consumer-call-for-action","tag-member-call-for-action","tag-oregon","tag-realtor-party-mobile-alerts","tag-rpma"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}