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This week, the Newberg City Council adopted an HBA-proposed system development charge administrative reform ordinance with an eye towards reducing the cost of new housing. Following a staff presentation and brief discussion, the City Council unanimously adopted the ordinance, which allows for the deferral of SDCs until insulation inspection. Under the old system, SDCs were charged and paid at the time that building permits were issued. This meant that if developers used construction loans to pay for their SDCs, they paid the carrying costs of those SDCs throughout the construction process. Additionally, construction loans are typically made at higher interest rates than conventionally-secured loans due to the higher level of risk. As a result, the costs of SDCs are higher in real terms the earlier they are charged. These factors mean that by collecting SDCs nearer to the time of construction completion, Newberg is actively reducing the cost burden to developers and builders of new homes. Depending on project size and timeline, this simple reform can reduce the cost of building a new home by hundreds or thousands of dollars without reducing the fees the city collects. To learn more about our efforts to advance SDC reform at the local and regional level, contact Ezra Hammer at ezrah@hbapdx.org.