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Bend City Council Addresses Child Care Shortage

BEND, OR -- Some Bend childcare facilities have waiting lists so long, it can take two years for a family to make it in. The shortage has forced some parents to stay home, which contributes to a lack of qualified workers for local businesses.


Bend City Manager Eric King says the City Council is ready to step in to try and help stimulate growth in the child care industry, "One of the most direct ways is to try to reduce some of those financial barriers in setting up either new facilities or, a lot of daycares are wanting to expand. And so, we talked about reducing child care transportation impact fees, which can be fairly significant – upwards of $40,000; depends on the size. It’s based on the square footage of the daycare facility." He tells KBND News, "They seemed to be very receptive to reducing those SDCs by about 70%. And the reason for it – it’s not just an arbitrary reduction. The theory being that there’s what we call 'linked trips;' so, if somebody is dropping their child off at childcare then going to work, they’re not creating a new trip on the system."

 

Bend Childcare Task Force Seeks Solutions (07/13/2018)

 

King says the reduction in System Development Charges would be temporary and limited to childcare facilities, "We’re doing a complete methodology study on our SDCs, over the next couple of years. So, it was just to provide some relief and an incentive for additional childcare facilities to get sited. We know that we’ve got three in the queue. So, Council will be deciding on that, December fifth."

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