Lane County News

Qualified local affordable housing projects can now apply to be provided exemptions for local system development charges (SDCs) during the building permit process. Applications are available online and must be submitted by April 26, 2023. The SDC exemptions can go toward smaller single-unit projects, like accessory dwelling units or homes built for ownership, or toward larger, multi-unit housing projects. Past projects include Iris Place (52 units of affordable housing), The Nel (45 units of permanent supportive housing) and Habitat for Humanity homes throughout the community.

Funding will be prioritized based on several criteria including the percentage of units serving the lowest income households and the percentage of units that are accessible to people with disabilities.

Each year, the City of Eugene supports the creation of more local housing that is affordable to people with lower incomes through the SDC exemption program. SDC exemptions can be used for rental housing for households earning 60% of the area median income (AMI) or below (42,760 for a family of four); or for homeownership housing for households earning 80% AMI or below (63,700 for a family of four).

Exemptions are limited, and the amount applied for often exceeds the amount available. For fiscal year (FY) 2023, approximately $733,180 is available for SDC exemptions. Half of the funding will be awarded to rental housing developments and half will go to home ownership developments.   If the proposals awarded in one category do not use all the exemptions available for that category, the remaining SDC exemptions will be awarded in the other category.  

To help provide a clear framework and process for projects interested in getting SDC exemptions, the City will be using a request for proposal (RFP) process to allocate funds. The RFP will collect information to help prioritize funding for projects that:

• offer the highest percentage of units serving the lowest income households 
• provide more than 5% of units to be accessible for people with physical disabilities.
• commit to longer affordability periods than the minimum 5 years.
• provide the most units within their category (rental or home ownership).
• provide housing affordable to low-income households in higher-income census tracts to support diverse housing opportunities

Projects must:

• Be located in Eugene city limits
• Have control of the property and be ready to start construction within 12 months of approval
• Meet affordability criteria outlined in the application
• Submit a complete application by April 26, 2023

The Request for Proposals is an open, competitive process. Proposals are reviewed, scored, and ranked based on the information provided in the application. More information on the Request for Proposal process and application is available online.

Original source can be found here.