Laserfiche WebLink
Eugene City Council <br />Harris Hall, 125East 8 1h Avenue <br />Eugene, Oregon 97401 <br />Councilors Present: George Brown, Betty Taylor, Alan ���George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, <br />Claire Syrett, Greg Evans <br />A. WORK SESSION: Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) Program Panel Discussion <br />Panel Members: Corey Dingman, Bill Morris, John Tcxter Rob Bennett, MiaNelson. <br />The panelists introduced themselves, stated their jobs and relationship to the topic, and gave <br />some background abocAtheirwork as it relates to MDPTE. <br />• The University area is attractive to developers because projects there are viable and can be <br />more easily financed. <br />• The degree of uncertainty in the current MUPTE process causes many developers to <br />withdraw their applications. <br />• Project costs are tight and profits speculative - developers often break even or incur a loss. <br />• Downtown development is often more difficult and more expensive to undertake. <br />• Development in the Coburg Road area may be viable if the land is already owned. <br />• Student housing is/has been the primary driver for MDPT8projects. <br />• University student populations are becoming more dispersed around the community, <br />causing rental rates toshift. <br />• Consider creating a small, independent advisory group to screen MUPTE applications prior <br />to the council's sigu'ntf. <br />• Put criteria in place so that developers will have some assurance that if they meet the <br />criteria their project will receive the tax exemption. <br />• Acknowledge the local hiring: issue: there are not enough employees available to meet need. <br />• For some parts of a construction job, qualified companies outside of Eugene or even outside <br />o[ Oregon must beused. <br />• A certified payroll program is fairly burdensome: the cost is high and it's difficult to monitor. <br />• Banks and finance agencies already track all the financial info the council is seeking. <br />• The shortage of multi-family housing and buildable land on which to build multi-family <br />housing in Eugene iscritical. <br />• Inclusion of affordable housing units in market-rate development is largely unfeasible. <br />• Affordable housing almost always involves families with children and requires a specific set <br />of amenities. <br />• There is support among appraisers, developers, lending institutions, builders and <br />community planners for continuing the MDP?E program in some form. <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 22, 2013 Page { <br />Work Session <br />