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HBA has officially signed on to endorse a campaign designed to defeat an upcoming ballot measure in Multnomah County that would establish a destructive capital gains tax on all county residents. On the May 16th Primary, voters in Multnomah County will be asked to vote on a measure that would establish a new .75% capital gains tax on all residents to help fund a new department at the county designed to represent all residents facing eviction (with no income qualifications necessary). While we in the housing industry agree with the intent of the ballot measure, which is to help avoid evictions, we believe that there are better funding and policy alternatives available to do so. For this reason, HBA is proud to formally support Building a Better Future Multnomah, which is a coalition of businesses and community leaders who are working collectively to ensure the measure is defeated. The coalition will officially launch with a website and introduce their advertising campaign in the coming days to help educate voters and draw in additional endorsements. To help defeat the measure, our local association and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) are making a $25,000 investment to the campaign and will help ensure that communication materials include the negative impact that this measure would have on housing affordability.