Over the last year, Welcome Home has been engaged in regional discussions to improve the impact of the Supportive Housing Services Measure (SHS). Over the past month, our members have advocated to the Metro Council to reform the measure so that our public tax dollars are more impactful for our most vulnerable neighbors. We were grateful to all the Metro Councilors for taking the time to hear from people currently trying to access housing and those working to connect households to safe, stable housing.

Why this matters:

The SHS measure was approved by voters in 2020 to fund essential services to address homelessness, such as housing vouchers, case management, and shelter. This public funding has had a measurable impact on our region and is a precious resource for our community. Yet, due to the rising cost of living over the last four years, the need for services to address unsheltered and sheltered homelessness has grown. Currently, a household needs to earn $34.15/hr to afford an average 1 BD apartment in the Portland Metro Area. With more public revenue from this high-income earner tax than initially forecasted, Welcome Home members drafted core recommendations based on the expertise of organizations and individuals working every day to address barriers to housing.

Read Our Recommendations

In our meetings with Councilors, Welcome Home asked Metro Regional government to:

  • Extend the length of time the tax is required – The SHS tax is currently set to expire in 2030, with 2,854 households receiving housing vouchers. If funding expires in 6 years, each of these households will lose their vouchers and once again face housing instability. Many households are seniors and/or people experiencing disability who can never reenter the workforce. We are proud that those who can afford to, are chipping in to support less fortunate neighbors.

  • Do not reduce the 1% marginal tax & instead index the taxpayer threshold to inflation – Metro Councilors are being asked to consider a tax rate reduction due to the increase in forecasted revenue. Unexpected growth of wealth in our region should not be a reason to reduce essential resources. Indexing the income threshold to inflation would better acknowledge the unprecedented increase in the cost of living in our region. Rather than reducing the personal income rate across the board, we would rather see an impact for those at the lowest end of the current threshold.

  • Allow for both the purchase of existing housing to be converted into affordable units and for the development of affordable units – Since 2023, Welcome Home began our advocacy to the regional government to ensure a continuation of local funding to create more housing that is affordable. Our regional funding for subsidized rentals and ownership opportunities is nearly gone and we must act now to keep increasing our local supply of housing that is more deeply affordable.
  • Increase regional accountability and coordination with a focus on housing – We know that people cross county borders every day. Our jurisdictions must commit to regional standards to more efficiently connect people to the resources they need to be stably housed. People accessing and providing these services must have official roles to draft these commitments and participate in oversite.

What can it accomplish:

We believe these recommendations will result in tax dollars being deployed more efficiently and have a felt impact on people currently at risk of or experiencing homelessness. We have the resources in our region to bring stability and wellness to all. When those most disenfranchised in our community begin to thrive, we all thrive.

With unexpected funding for homeless services in our region, it is easy to feel like this measure alone will address housing instability across our community. While these local resources are currently our strongest tool, we must acknowledge that this funding is only meant to react to the symptoms of inequity in housing. To strengthen our region’s work to be a community where everyone has a safe, stable place to call home, we need to address the upstream causes of homelessness. These wins are possible. In reaction to land and property prices climbing faster than inflation, Mexico City just passed the strongest rent control law since the 1940s – limiting increases to the previous year’s inflation. If a city of 22 million people can do that, we can do that too!

There is excitement among Welcome Home members to expand the toolbox of policies to address our region’s shortage of affordable and available housing. We know that it will take both good policy and a strong workforce to accomplish these goals and put Portland at the forefront of housing equity.