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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad March 2, 2005 City seeks property sales-tax authority By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings The Ashland City Council voted unanimously to ask the Oregon Legislature to repeal a state law barring cities from adopting real estate sales taxes. The Tuesday night decision does not mean the council necessarily supports such a tax, which advocates hope could be instituted and used to fund affordable housing. "We're not here to discuss the merits of the real estate transfer tax tonight," Councilor Russ Silbiger said. "We're just looking at asking the state to let cities make their own decisions." Councilor Chris Hearn said he would support eventually asking Ashland voters whether they want the tax. Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, has introduced a bill to repeal the ban adopted by the legislature in 1999. Affordable housing supporters have proposed a one-half of 1 percent tax on home sales, with the first $200,000 exempted. The average home buyer would pay $892. The tax would raise nearly $420,000 annually based on 2004 sales data, according to Ashland Community Development Department staff. Ashland Housing Commis-sioner Alice Hardesty said the absence of funding for affordable housing projects is severely restricting the efforts of the commission to add homes in the city, which has faced skyrocketing housing prices. "It's really sad when the people who work to support our community cannot live here," she said. "Teachers, secretaries, nurses, firefighters, and many others - whose services and expertise are so essential to all of us - deserve to be able to live in the community they serve." The Rogue Valley Association of Realtors opposes a real estate tax, arguing in a letter submitted to the council that the tax would target a small percentage of the population while further increasing prices and barriers to home ownership. Instead of adopting a tax, the city could fast-track annexation of land earmarked for affordable housing and then wave all fees and permit costs, Rogue Valley Association of Realtors President John Zupan wrote in the letter. The average home sales price in Ashland has jumped from $162,094 in 1996 to $378,403 in 2004, according to Roy Wright Appraisal Service. The city council voted to ask the Legislature to repeal the real estate sales tax ban in 2003, but a bill to that effect did not pass. In other business Tuesday night, the council heard from opponents and supporters of a proposed co-housing project on Fordyce Street that would include 13 units in townhouse-style construction with a community building and central plaza. The project would require a zoning change from single-family housing to multi-family housing. Opponents said the project is too dense and is incompatible with the existing neighborhood of single-family homes. Supporters said the design includes plentiful open space and would provide affordable housing. With 25 people still waiting to speak and a mandated 9:30 p.m. cut-off time for public hearings, the council agreed to continue the hearing to its April 5 meeting when all councilors will be present. Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 482-3456 x 3018 or [email protected] . --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.