ARTICLE
On April 6th, HBA’s Government Affairs Director Preston Korst provided invited testimony to the Portland City Council in support of a 2024-25 budgetary request that would help stabilize the city’s permitting services while ensuring progress for ongoing permit consolidation efforts. This testimony was part of a months-long efforts led by a coalition of industry partners who worked with the Bureau of Development Services and Commissioner Carmen Rubio’s office to develop a framework that included a $6 million general fund budget request, a modest permit fee increase of no more than 8%, and a culmination of tactical approaches aimed at retaining BDS staff and continuing the work done by the City’s Permit Improvement Taskforce. Read our coalition’s official testimony here. While we are encouraged by the progress being made by BDS and what will soon be a Single-Permitting Authority, we strongly object to and relayed our serious concern over PBOT’s recent proposal at a Development Review Advisory Committee meeting to increase its development fees by 67% in just one year. This extreme increase has no bearing in financial reality and would only serve to hurt the commendable work that City Council has done to incentivize development in Portland.