BEND, OR -- Following the Governor’s executive order aimed at increasing affordable housing, one Deschutes County Commissioner wants to approach the issue locally this year.

Commissioner Phil Chang says the county could help mitigate the rising cost of land, construction, and System Development Charges, “Take all those three things and add them up, and it’s really hard to deliver a unit of housing that’s attainable to our local workers. So, we have to buy down those costs somehow, in order to make more housing attainable for more people and to build more housing.”

He’s proposing the county use some of the revenue generated by the Transient Room Tax, the fee paid by visitors at hotels and resorts. 

TRT dollars go to the Sheriff’s Office, Sunriver Service District, and the Fairgrounds, but millions remain unallocated. Much of the unallocated funds will likely be used for reconstruction of the courthouse, now expected to cost $40 million.

“There was a decision made about five or six years ago to reduce our assessed property tax rate by three cents, and then three cents again. If we hadn’t done that, we would probably have about $10 million in the bank for our capital reserve right now, to put towards the courthouse project,” says Chang adding he hopes TRT money will be left over for workforce housing following the courthouse expansion, “In the ideal world, I would like us to not use all of it. Because this housing need is so critical for our community. A lack of workers, which is driven by a lack of housing opportunities is breaking our local businesses.”