06/11/1980 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

e Mr. Delay stated that converted units do provide an opportunity for entry into ownership, but there is a displacement problem. There is sufficient reason to exempt certain situations, including coopera- tives, from the tax. He would be willing to back away from the tax if the council were willing to make funding for new housing a top priority. Mr. Lieuallen stated they will need to face the problem of inadequate rental housing in Eugene. Much money flows from the buyer to the developer and he would like to be able to tap that money, although it does not seem possible without passing this along to the consumer. He is not convinced that the council has total responsi- bility for dealing with the housing issue and would prefer to see that the person or group responsible for creating the problem pays for the solution. The council cannot always accept the responsibility for financing a solution to an identifiable problem. At the beginning of the condominium discussions, he had heard the attorneys say that the taxing authority of the council would be the cleanest, clearest, and most constitutionally supportable approach. That was why he had originally supported the tax, but other arguments would make him back away and eliminate the tax, especially for cooperatives. Ms. Smith noted her opposition to the tax has been known for several months. She has heard several good arguments supporting deletion of this tax. She feels that administrative costs should be paid by the converter. She does not feel the council has taken on housing as a priority to the degree which it could. In some other cases they have been able to make some progress in identified areas and so she would support this notion. Ms. Miller noted it seemed that the rationale for the tax was the need for money to develop low- and moderate-income housing. She feels that if there is a commitment to make up the money by general funds then elimination of the tax would be acceptable. She is not convinced that the addition of the tax would increase the price as converted units will be sold for as much money as they can at any particular time. This would become a long-term tax included in the total cost of the purchase, rather than a front-end cost. She would support elimination of the tax if there is agreement that the loss would be made up in general funds. Ms. Schue noted that the Joint Housing Committee has done a lot with the money that they have had through revenue sharing and Community Development funds. She noted the Joint .Housing Committee would be delighted to accept any general funding offered them. Mr. Henry indicated there are some Housing Landbanking funds included in the Tier 2 budget that will be before the voters on June 24. Ms. Niven stated that when people are going to do a conversion, they must be able to offer it on the open market for 70 to 80 percent of the cost of a single-family house. This will probably not affect low-income people, but rather the medium-income people. If Congress would approve some share of capital gains being returned, then that would be the money that they would like to try to tap. If the dif- ference between what is paid for the property and what it sells for e - 6/11/80--7