In July, 2006, the City of Bend was the first city in Oregon to implement an Affordable Housing Fee. Proceeds from this fund have been employed to develop a wide variety of housing throughout Bend. Currently, the Affordable Housing Fund is used to acquire land for deed restricted affordable housing, develop the land, construct homes, or rehabilitate homes. All funded developments are required to undertake a deed restriction, guaranteeing the homes will be affordable to lower income residents well into the future.

The fee is 1/3 of 1% of the total valuation on all Building Permits submitted to the City of Bend. Collection of the fee started at the end of October 2006. According to the ordinance, priorities for this funding are based upon the goals identified in the five-year Community Development Block Grant Program Consolidated Plan.

Visit the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) tab for current information on the funding cycle.  

In April 2004, the City of Bend began its first Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Year. The CDBG Program is a federal funding program that provides assistance for housing and community development projects that benefit low- and moderate-income persons. The funds are provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and are utilized or distributed by the City of Bend.

The CDBG Program is guided by the City of Bend 2023-2027 Consolidated Plan, a comprehensive housing and community development strategy that was prepared with extensive public involvement.

Each year, the City requests proposals from non-profit organizations and agencies undertaking CDBG-eligible projects. The proposals are reviewed by the City Council's CDBG/Housing Advisory Committee, which then submits its funding recommendations for consideration and approval by the Council. The projects selected for CDBG funding each year are outlined in the City's annual Action Plan.

Visit the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) tab for current information on the funding cycle. 

The City periodically sells city owned land for development as affordable housing. In the last ten years, the City has sold over ten acres of land for development as affordable housing. Properties are usually sold for the cost of titling and Requests for Proposals are issued. See a map of City owned land on our City-owned property viewer.

There are no open or active Requests for Proposals at this time.

Background:

As of December 1, 2017, all City (does not include Parks & Rec) system development charges (SDCs) will be exempted for housing for which the developer or property owner agrees to record a deed restriction to maintain the property as affordable housing for households with income at or below 80% of area median income (AMI).

Requirements:

Homes for rent or sale must be deed restricted to those making 80% Area Median Income (AMI) and below. For up-to-date income thresholds by family size, visit the Bend Housing Hub Housing Affordability page. 

Process:

• Applications for SDC Exemptions are made electronically through the Online Permit Center Portal. There you will find instructions and access to the Portal. For assistance with the portal, access Portal Help Videos & How-Tos. Once you have created a Portal account and logged into your account, from there you will need to navigate under “Private Development Engineering - Public Right of Way, Grading; Agreements & Housing Incentives” section to click “Apply.” Please be sure to call the Housing Department directly at 541-323-8550 for assistance with SDC applications. 

  You will need to upload a completed SDC Exemption Worksheet and a completed SDC Estimate Worksheet to your application in Portal.

  System Development Charges Supplemental Application

  City of Bend SDC Exemption Worksheet

• If application is approved, legal documents are created to record deed restriction.
  • Affordable housing staff and property owner will work together.
  • Structured as a forgivable loan at 3% annual interest covering the affordability period.
    • No payments due if property is in compliance.
    • During the affordability period, if out of compliance, SDCs become due and payable with interest.
    • Owner can request reconveyance and loan/restriction will be forgiven after the compliance period ends.
  • Documents need to be recorded prior to occupancy on a single unit or prior to pulling permits on multi-family.

Applications for an Expedited Review Letter are made electronically through the Online Permit Center Portal. Below is a link to the City’s Permit Center. There you will find instructions and access to the Portal. You will also find Portal Help Videos & How-Tos on this Permit Center we page for assistance with the Portal. Once you have created a Portal account and logged into your account, from there you will need to navigate under the “Private Development Engineering - Public Right of Way, Grading; Agreements & Housing Incentives” section to click “Apply.” Please be sure to call the Housing Department directly at 541-323-8550 for assistance with Expedited Review Letter applications.

You will need to upload a completed Expedited Review Worksheet to your application in Portal.
City of Bend Expedited Review Worksheet

Expedited Permitting Application in Permit Center Portal

Expedited Review and Permitting Policy

The City of Bend has three property tax exemption programs to support our housing goals.

The City of Bend has three tax incentive programs available for housing developments in the City of Bend that meet respective program requirements. All three programs are allowed per Bend Municipal Code (BMC) Title 12.

The City is still exploring future adoption of a Middle-Income Exemption (Newly Rehabilitated or Recently Constructed Housing), pending future legislative changes.

Application Instructions 

Applications for Tax Exemptions are made electronically through the Online Permit Center Portal. Below is a link to the City’s Permit Center. There you will find instructions and access to the Portal. You will also find Portal Help Videos & How-Tos on this Permit Center we page for assistance with the Portal. Once you have created a Portal account and logged into your account, from there you will need to navigate under the “Private Development Engineering - Public Right of Way, Grading; Agreements & Housing Incentives” section to click “Apply.” Please be sure to call the Housing Department directly at 541-323-8550 for assistance with Tax Exemption applications. 

Qualified Rental Housing Tax Exemption

You will need to upload a completed Property Tax Exemption Questionnaire & Checklist and the certification of income levels to your application in Portal.

Qualified Rental Housing Tax Exemption Questionnaire & Checklist 

Qualified Rental Housing Tax Exemption Certification of Income Levels

Non-Profit Property Tax Exemption

Non-Profit Property Tax Exemption Questionnaire & Checklist

Non-Profit Property Tax Exemption Certification of Income Levels

Tax Exemption Application in Permit Center Portal 

Revenue and Taxation.

Property Tax Exemption

Tax Increment Assistance for Housing Affordability

The Tax Increment Assistance for Housing Affordability Program (TIAHA) may provide multi-unit residential rental projects assistance with Bend Urban Renewal Agency (BURA)’s portion of taxes on increased assessed value from structural improvements. Projects must include three or more residential units and at least 15% of units must be rented to households at or below 90% area median income with rental increases below the statutory maximums for the duration of assistance. The City of Bend has two programs for tax increment assistance for housing affordability to support our housing goals.

For more information and the application process for Tax Increment Assistance for Housing Affordability, please visit the Tax Increment Assistance for Housing Affordability Program | City of Bend.

Low-Embodied Carbon Housing Program for Space Efficient Housing

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, in partnership with the City of Bend, is offering funding through the Low-Embodied Carbon Housing Program.

DEQ received $25.6 million to create the Low-Embodied Carbon Housing Program, as part of Oregon's Climate Equity and Resilience Through Action (CERTA) grant. DEQ has allotted $4 million of these funds for qualified housing development here in Bend, which could receive up to $20,000 per qualifying unit.

Eligible projects must produce right-sized housing units that do not exceed the program’s square foot threshold as well as meet additional requirements for low-embodied carbon and must have construction completion by March 30, 2029.

Single Room Occupancy - 210 sq ft 
Studio - 420 sq ft 
1-bedroom - 800 sq ft 
2-bedrooms - 1,000 sq ft 
3-bedrooms - 1,200 sq ft 

The Program incentivizes lower-embodied carbon housing production, helping Oregon to meet our climate goals while also addressing the need for more affordable housing.

Embodied carbon is the greenhouse gas emissions from resource extraction, manufacture, transport, installation, maintenance, disposal, and recovery of construction materials. Learn more.

• Application
• Applicant Guidebook 

• Video: Introduction to embodied carbon reduction compliance pathways
• Low Embodied Carbon Compliance Guidebook
• DEQ Embodied Carbon Reporting Form

For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/DEQhousing and contact Kerry Bell with the City of Bend Housing Division at kbell@bendoregon.gov

Projects that are providing up to 50% of the units as affordable (targeting 80% of Area Median Income for ownership projects, 60% of AMI for rental projects) are allowed to go to 1.5 of the base density for that zone. It has a decreasing scale of 1.4 for 40% affordable, 1.3 for 30%, etc.

A Cottage Code will provide a housing type that responds to changing household sizes and ages (e.g., retirees, small families, single-person households); provide opportunities for ownership of small, single family detached units within residential zoning districts; encourage creation of more usable space for residents of the development through flexibility in density and lot standards; and support growth management through efficient use of urban residential land. ->Small units (<1000 sq ft) sharing open space.

The intent of the 2021, House Bill 2001 is to provide more opportunities for a variety of housing types in traditionally single-family neighborhoods and to increase the overall housing supply in and around cities. The variety of housing types being pursued are middle housing types. HB 2001 defines middle housing as duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottages clusters and townhomes. Often referred to as "missing middle housing," this style of housing is often missing from our residential neighborhoods, with decades of focus on developing the traditional single family dwelling or large apartment complexes.

Middle housing often serves as an efficient way to maximize housing units for infill development. 

Get more information on Infill Development.

This bill is a follow-up to House Bill (HB) 2001 which legalized middle housing in many cities throughout the state.  SB 458 requires cities to allow middle housing developments to be divided into individual lots for homeownership opportunities.

For example, a triplex could be built on a lot and then split into three smaller parcels, each containing one dwelling unit, by using an expedited land division procedure.  The expedited land division process provides an alternative procedure intended to streamline the review of residential land divisions under state law.

EXPANDING HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES IN VARIOUS ZONES 

Getting more affordable housing units on the ground in more zones:
Senate Bill (SB) 8, passed in 2021, allows development of affordable housing on lands not zoned for residential uses and increases the number of units allowed in zones with deed-restricted affordable housing.

EXPANDING HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES IN VARIOUS ZONES

More flexibility to build affordable housing on commercial land:
House Bill (HB) 3395, passed in 2023, allows affordable housing on commercial land, as long as it's not in an industrial zone, and provides flexibility based on income levels and mixed-use options. For example, housing
that is affordable to a household making 80% to 120% of the area median income can be built on commercial land if commercial use is built on the ground floor of the development.

EXPANDING HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES IN VARIOUS ZONES

Allowing affordable housing to be an outright use on certain properties:
House Bill (HB) 3151 bill, passed in 2023, updates the definition of affordable housing to include manufactured home parks and requires local governments to allow affordable housing on properties owned by housing authorities or non-profits.

The definition of affordable housing now includes manufactured home parks that serve households making 120% or less of the area median income. This has the potential for manufactured home parks to be eligible for different zones and higher density standards in line with affordable housing criteria. Zones include residential, commercial,
mixed-use districts or public facilities. Land zoned light industrial that is public owned and next to lands zoned for residential use or schools also qualifies.

CONVERTING COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS INTO HOUSING UNITS

House Bill (HB) 2984, passed in 2023, means a city can allow a developer to convert a commercial building into residential housing without doing extra steps in the land use process, such as a zone change or conditional use
permit. The bill does not allow this in land zoned for industrial uses or public facilities.

STREAMLINING THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

More flexibility during the application process for developers:
Senate Bill (SB) 1537, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, Offers more flexibility during the application process for developers, including adjustments to development standards and the ability to "opt-in" to new city standards adopted after an application is submitted. Some examples of what a developer could request include reducing bicycle parking or certain setbacks.

This bill also allows a developer to “opt in” to a city’s standards and criteria that were adopted after an application was submitted. For example, say a developer submitted an application for a housing project at a time where 35-foot buildings were not permitted in a certain zone, but then a few months later a City passes new codes to allow for 35-foot buildings in that zone. This bill would allow the developer to opt-in to using the newer codes so the housing project could be built up to 35 feet tall and therefore include more housing units.

Adjustments will sunset on Jan. 2, 2032.