MEMORANDUM

Date:  June 10, 2003

To:  Mayor Katz and Members of the Portland City Council

From:  Barbara Sack, City Planner (Ext. 3-7853), and Mike Saba, Senior Planner (Ext. 3-7838)

Re:  Resolution to Remove a Resolution from Portland Policy Documents (PPD)

The recommended resolution will be presented to City Council as a consent calendar item at their meeting on June 18, 2003. This resolution will remove Resolution 36065 from the PPD repository. This resolution sets a price cap for newly constructed single family homes eligible for a property tax exemption under the distressed (now named homebuyer opportunity) areas program in 2002. This resolution is a housekeeping measure and does not affect the operation of the tax exemption program. A summary of the resolution as well as background information is presented below.

Description / Purpose

Chapter 3.102 of the City Code allows the City to grant a limited 10-year property tax exemption on the improvement value of newly constructed single family houses in designated homebuyer opportunity (formerly “distressed”) areas. Each year the Planning Bureau is required to submit a resolution establishing a maximum sales price limit (including land value) on eligible houses (3.102.090 (D)).

The Portland Policy Documents (PPD) began as a joint initiative of the Mayor's Office and Auditor's Office to capture all City policies and administrative rules in one central location. Ordinance 175959, passed in October 2001, created the PPD and directed the Auditor to gather all City policies and rules and publish them on the Internet.

In 2002, the Planning Bureau submitted Resolution 36065, which sets a price cap for that year on new single family homes eligible for the 3.102 tax exemption program. Bureau staff noted that this resolution was binding City policy and should be placed in the Portland Policy Documents repository.

When the Planning Bureau staff consulted the City Attorney’s Office about Resolution 36131, this year’s resolution setting the annual price cap (for 2003), they found that this resolution implements but is not new binding city policy and therefore did not need to be included in the PPD. The 2002 resolution needs to be removed since it is outdated information and was included in the PPD in error.

Recommendation

Adopt the resolution removing Resolution 36065, which sets a price cap on new single family units eligible for a tax exemption under the 3.102 program in 2002, from the Portland Policy Documents repository.

Planning Bureau Contact Person

Barbara Sack, 503-823-7853, will attend the Council meeting.