Portland voters will be asked to approve a November tax hike to subsidize about $250 million worth of new or preserved apartments for low-income residents.

The tax proposal has been months in the making and represents what would be the single-largest financial investment in city history for affordable-housing construction, with the potential to eventually pay for upwards of 1,000 units. The push comes amid soaring housing prices and a declared "housing emergency" to grapple with homelessness.

Details of the bond measure remain unofficial, although the Portland City Council is set to vote on a formal plan June 30 at 3 p.m. City Council approval would send the tax to voters in the Nov. 8 general election.

"The housing affordability crisis is top of mind for everyone in the city now," Commissioner Dan Saltzman said Friday, confirming the plan and expressing hope that voters will approve it.

Portland officials expect to sell bonds repaid with higher property taxes collected over 20 years. Tax rates would increase by about 42 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, Saltzman said, depending the final value of the bond, currently planned at $258 million.

Based on a typical assessed value in Portland about $178,000 for a single-family home, that's $75 a year.

Advocates are emboldened by polling results that place housing and homelessness as the top issue for Portland voters. But they also know voters may be wary - with a potential school bond measure and a statewide corporate tax looming - and are planning a major political campaign to build support.

Saltzman, who met with campaign backers Friday morning, said they hope to raise $500,000 to $1 million to help sway voters.

"We're going to have a very robust campaign, and we'll need it," he said. "There will be other measures asking for money."

The greatest need for affordable housing is at the lowest end of the income spectrum. As of 2014, Portland lacked nearly 20,000 units for families earning up to 30 percent of the region's median, which today is about $22,000 for a family of four.

But officials don't expect to mandate how the bond money would be spent. They are promising to generally focus on the city's poorest residents, however.

"The intent is to use this mechanism to help solve that end of the spectrum, which we haven't successfully done to date," said Jes Larson, director of the Welcome Home Coalition, which has been working to build support for the tax.

While money isn't planned for shelter space, Larson said increasing the supply of affordable housing will in fact help reduce homelessness.

"Solving homelessness is achieved through building affordable housing," she said.

Details of the bond measure have been a closely guarded secret in recent months, even as top local officials worked behind the scenes to plot a politically palatable plan.

At a campaign stop during Portland mayor's race, for instance, candidate Jules Bailey, also a Multnomah County commissioner, confided to business leaders that he'd been helping raise money to conduct polling for housing advocates.

Officials originally planned to ask voters throughout Multnomah County to approve the tax, with the county - and not the city - leading efforts. The Portland Tribune first reported details of the shift Thursday.

Deborah Kafoury, chairwoman of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, said the bond measure is better suited for city management. Portland has a Housing Bureau that pays for affordable housing development while the county is set to focus on homelessness.

"It just seemed like a big lift," she said, adding that county leaders consider the bond a top priority and will advocate for its passage. "I'm really excited. There's huge momentum."

But politics also played a role in the shift, Saltzman conceded.

Had the tax been countywide, it would have provided two key benefits: Portland households would pay less because property owners in Gresham and other eastern suburbs would have kicked in, spreading overall costs. That also would have enabled new projects to be built beyond city limits.

But Saltzman said county voters outside Portland are generally less supportive of tax hikes, and the bond measure polled better among city voters.

"Although the need is certainly countywide," he said, "we have a better chance of prevailing at the city level."

If ultimately approved by voters, city officials will find themselves with an unparalleled level of financial and political resources to build affordable units.

Saltzman next week will propose a construction excise tax that could spur anywhere from $8 million to $14 million annually for housing. He'd also been looking at a so-called linkage fee, although he said that likely won't move forward.

Additionally, state lawmakers this year eliminated a long-standing prohibition blocking Portland from requiring developers to sprinkle affordable units in big development projects. Saltzman hopes to roll out a plan late this year.

All that, combined with the city's increased commitment to spend more urban renewal money for affordable housing, sets Portland up for the future.

"I view this bond measure as complementary to the other efforts," Saltzman said. "Combined, we can make a real dent."

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch