Portland-area residents approved a historic new tax to fund homeless services Tuesday night in early returns.
The measure will collect 1% from single people who make $125,000 annually or couples who earn $200,000 combined. It also includes a 1% tax on businesses that generate $5 million annually.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, it was expected to raise $250 million a year to be spread among the three counties in the Metro region. There is no projection of what it will raise now, but supporters say it will likely generate the expected annual $250 million by the end of its 10-year lifespan.
The money will go toward funding behavioral health services, job training and other services for homeless people or people on the edge of it. Local officials and homelessness nonprofit leaders say the money could be a game changer in broadening and deepening the scope of their work.
The guidelines for the measure prioritize people of color and chronically homeless people.
Katrina Holland, executive director of nonprofit JOIN, said her staff has had to turn homeless families away for lack of funds at the beginning of this year. But when money starts to roll in in 2021, that could shore up their ability to serve more people.
“This was a serious wildcard and I am so thankful to be part of a community that has decided we still care about those of us who are most vulnerable,” Holland said. “I can only imagine some of our workers who are working a new kind of joy that they haven’t felt in a long time."
Some counties might be able to spend money before 2021, if they have funds on hand. Those counties would then be paid back by Metro once the tax money is collected.
Metro President Lynn Peterson said Metro staff will begin work to help counties create plans for how to spend the money as soon as possible.
“Does the service get down to the people yet? That’s a question we have to dig into of how quickly that can happen,” Peterson said.
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The measure was sponsored by Metro, and so far won a majority in two counties.
Incomplete returns show Multnomah County voted 64% and Washington County 52% in favor. Clackamas County voted 53% against the measure in early returns.
It originally was pitched as the companion measure to the landmark Metro affordable housing measure passed in 2018. The money from this measure does not have to be used on permanent supportive housing, though officials say much of it will go to provide services to people who have a hard time gaining and staying in housing.
At the beginning of the campaign, measure supporters said they wanted to carry all three counties, as the affordable housing bond did. Tuesday night, Peterson -- a former Clackamas County chair -- said there is still a lot of need for homeless services in the county and that if partial returns hold as more votes are counted, that means that elected officials need to listen to residents’ concern. But it won’t affect the county’s participation in how the measure money is used.
Jim Bernard, the Clackamas County chairman, has been supportive of the measure, as have other commissioners. However, he is facing a possible defeat, though the race is too close to call.
If he does lose, Tootie Smith will take the chair seat and could throw that support into question. When Smith last sat on the Clackamas County board, she helped lead confrontations between the county and regional agencies Metro and TriMet.
The opposition campaign -- called the Alliance for an Affordable Metro and funded by the grocers’ and manufacturers’ lobbies -- claim the new taxes will hurt businesses during a pandemic-ravaged economy.
The pushback spurred supporters to ramp up fundraising, surpassing $1 million in early May. They bought broadcast and online advertising, as well as mailers, polling and extensive consulting services.
-- Molly Harbarger
mharbarger@oregonian.com | 503-294-5923 | @MollyHarbarger
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