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Senior Housing and the Economy--"'The Silver-Haired Economic Base." The January, .1991, Pacific Northwest Executive, in an excerpt reprinted in the Eugene Business Assistance Team's newsletter, NE'TMA~, describes retirees as '"The 5ilver- Haired Economic Base," and the May, 1990, draft of the I~OG industrial land stud • Y describes retirement housing as the functional equivalent of an ~ndustnal use. The reason for this is transfer payments. As the BAT Team explains it in NETMA: 'Zn the Northwest, retirement-related transfers were the leading source of personal income growth in the last 2fl years. Average growth rates exceeded 6% and outpaced the growth rates of earnings income by more than two to one. Roughly one out of every three dollars of personal income; in the Northwest stems from either transfer payments or property income. 'Retirees are an emerging source of stable income, and economic developers now refer to them as the silver-haired economic base.' This type of income provides a stable growth that serves to dampen cyclical swings in personal income and helps cushion economies from the effects of recession." This analysis is confirmed by the fallowing findings of a study entitled Retirement Communities: economic and Political Impacts, by the Institute on Aging of the School of Urban Studies at the University of Portland: - "Transfer payments--income received by individuals far which current services are not rendered, including Social Security, pension, and investment income, play an increasingly important role in local economies... . - "The growing importance of transfer payments in local economies is clear." - "More and more frequently economic development analysts include cash transfers in basic sectors in measuring local employment growth. ...The move toward incorporating transfer payments into basic sectors in local analysis has occurred because transfer payments create an inflow of cash and are considered less subject to changes in local economies." - 'Research has noted that the elderly: "became consumers of medical, recreational, and retail services; "make few demands on public service institutions; "contribute to the tax base; and "present negligible competition for local jobs,"i - "Small communities can capture local spending by offering a range of essential 1 PSU paper at 3, citing Longino & Biggar, 19$0. Springwoad Plan Amendment Application Applicant's Proposed Findings March 20,1991 Drag Page S