Property Tax Exemption

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Graph that shows annual tax revenue for three various land uses: raw vacant land, retail, and vertical mixed use over a 30 year period where a tax exemption is offered in which taxes collected for the first 10 years are low. Vertical mixed use has the highest tax value over the time period, followed by retail and then vacant land.

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

The City of Bend has three tax exemption 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, Revenue and Taxation.

Multiple Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE)
A 10-year tax exemption on improvements (typically only residential) for multi-unit residential projects in Core and transit-oriented areas that meet certain public benefit requirements that meet certain public benefit requirements. View the MUPTE webpage and review BMC12.35 for more information about this program.

Non-Profit Tax Exemption
100% tax exemption for non-profits, 501c (3) or (4) charitable corporation including tax credit partnerships, for affordable housing development including bare land holding. Exemption length is based on the period of affordability. Find out more information by reading BMC12.30.

Qualifying Rental Property Tax Exemption
A 20-year tax exemption for both land and improvements for qualifying low-income rental housing projects. Learn more on the Affordable Housing Developer Resources page or by reading BMC12.25.

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

FREQENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is a property tax exemption program?

The basic idea of a tax exemption program is to offer full or partial exemptions of property taxes for a period of time in order to enable housing developments or certain aspects of a development (i.e. Affordable & low-income housing, childcare facilities, energy efficiency features) that would not otherwise "pencil" under market conditions.

Why are property tax exemptions offered?

Property tax exemptions offer the following opportunities for future developments:

Allow project to “survive” on lower rents than it would have been able to

Enable development of project that would not otherwise be financially feasible

Reduce annual operating expenses for development, ideally providing an opportunity to reduce annual rent prices or incentivize public benefits in the project that may not have otherwise been feasible for the development (i.e. Childcare facilities, energy efficiency or net zero building construction, etc.)

Property tax exemptions should be carefully evaluated and monitored and ultimately serve the public interest.

BACKGROUND

The City of Bend has had a Qualifying Housing Tax Exemption program in place since 2003 to support Affordable Housing projects. In 2002, City Council directed staff to set up a working group made up of members from various Council committees to evaluate four different tax exemption programs for the City to consider to meet its housing goals. The working group met four times to develop recommendations on the potential implementation of these programs including program prioritization, location/zones to apply the various programs, and eligibility and application requirements.

The work group recommended that the City pursue adoption of both the Non-Profit and Multiple Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) program, pursue legislative changes to allow for future adoption of a Middle-Income Housing Tax Exemption, and to not pursue a Vertical Housing Development Zone (VHDZ) exemption program.

TAXING DISTRICT OUTREACH

TAX EXEMPTION APPLICATION

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 “Engineering & Agreements” section to click “Apply.” We apologize that there currently is no link for the Housing Department specifically in Portal. You will need to remember “Engineering & Agreements” and click “Apply” under that section. 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

Tax Exemption Application in Permit Center Portal

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

MEETINGS/EVENTS

Information about previous work group and Council meetings that led to the adoption of the Non-Profit and Multiple Unit Property Tax Exemption Program are available below.

Meeting Type	Date	Description
City Council Adoption	June 1, 2022	Agenda, Recording
Community Building Subcommittee	April 27, 2022	Presentation
City Council	April 20, 2022	Presentation
Deschutes County Library Board Meeting	April 13, 2022	Agenda
Deschutes County Board Meeting	April 4, 2022	Memo Presentation
Working Group Meeting #4 3:00 - 5:00pm via Zoom	March 28, 2022	Agenda Presentation
Bend Parks and Rec Board Meeting	March 1, 2022	Presentation
Working Group Meeting #3 3:00-5:00pm via Zoom	February 28, 2022	Meeting Presentation
Community Building Subcommittee	February 23, 2022	Presentation (link to slides)
Working Group Meeting #2 3:00-5:00pm via Zoom	February 14, 2022	Agenda
Working Group Meeting #1 3:00-5:00pm via Zoom	February 7, 2022	Agenda
Neighborhood Leadership Alliance (NLA)	January 11, 2022	Neighborhood Leadership Alliance
Bend Economic Development Advisory Board (BEDAB)	January 10, 2022	Agenda available on BEDAB webpage
City Council Work Session	December 15, 2021	Tax Exemption Overview