A New Approach to Increasing Housing Affordability and Supply
Housing affordability and supply is a long-standing and growing problem in Eugene. There are two paths to increasing housing affordability: a) stabilize the cost of housing and b) raise incomes. The latter is the continued focus of the City’s economic prosperity efforts with local partners. To stabilize housing, and more specifically, to prioritize, fund, and implement actions that will have an impact on the cost of housing, staff created the Housing Implementation Pipeline.
The Housing Implementation Pipeline (HIP) is an internal, cross-departmental, 5-year work plan for the City organization. This work plan coordinates current and future City resources, goals, and priorities with a systems-thinking approach to housing across the full continuum from people experiencing homelessness to overall housing supply. Importantly, there are several initiatives in the HIP that will require working closely with partners to be successful.
The HIP work plan period begins July 1, 2022 and concludes June 30, 2027. The HIP will be reviewed and updated on a two year schedule to occur in year 3 (2025) and year 5 (2027)
NEXT STEPS
City Council unanimously approved the Housing Implementation Pipeline Work Plan during their work session on January 24th.
Housing affordability and supply is a long-standing and growing problem in Eugene. There are two paths to increasing housing affordability: a) stabilize the cost of housing and b) raise incomes. The latter is the continued focus of the City’s economic prosperity efforts with local partners. To stabilize housing, and more specifically, to prioritize, fund, and implement actions that will have an impact on the cost of housing, staff created the draft HIP. The HIP sets out the City’s internal cross-departmental workplan over the next five years. It creates a policy framework connecting funding sources and actions, while clearly showing how actions meet goals identified across the housing continuum. The HIP incorporates the City’s existing tools and goals; and identifies opportunities to explore implementation of new tools that will enable the City to work towards achieving housing affordability.
Council received an update on the HIP creation work on October 13, 2021 and reviewed a draft of the HIP on November 10, 2021 (see the Agenda Item Summary for additional background information). Council discussed the HIP and downtown housing on December 13, 2021.
On January 24, 2022 Council is asked to take action on the HIP. A vote of approval means that Council supports the HIP as written, but potential adjustments to this internal workplan will not need Council approval. A vote of approval does not authorize or fund specific programs or actions. Decisions related to authorization and funding of programs will continue to be made through regular budget and other processes. The HIP includes built-in review periods whereby staff will bring updated information to Council (described below). The HIP is not a land use plan, and approval of the HIP is not a land use decision.
The HIP will be reviewed and updated on a two-year schedule to occur in year 3 (FY25) and year 5 (FY27). Prior to July 1, staff will work on specifics of implementation, including staffing, advance initial policy initiatives, such as renter protections and downtown housing, and continue related work, including growth monitoring, climate action and homelessness. As shown in the Appendix A timeline, many of the potential policy and program exploration will only be possible with additional resources. Those requests will happen in the applicable budget processes.
Qualified local affordable housing projects can now apply to be provided exemptions for local system development charges (SDCs) during the building permit process. Read on...
In 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 5561 with funding to help cities address housing insecurity, lack of affordable housing, or homelessness and allocated $1 million each to several cities, including the City of Eugene. Read on...
In December 2021, the Eugene City Council approved the use of $1.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to support four local housing developments for low-income families and individuals. Learn more about ARPA affordable housing funds ...
In December 2021 and January 2022, the Eugene City Council approved six Low Income Rental Housing Property Tax Exemptions (LIRHPTEs) that will create or maintain more than 200 units (with more than 400 bedrooms) of affordable housing. Learn more about property tax exemptions . . .
On Monday, January 24 the Eugene City Council unanimously approved the Housing Implementation Pipeline (HIP) a new cross-departmental, five-year internal work plan for the City organization. Learn more about the HIP . . .
