Special report: Bend parks soar, while streets crumble

Each year, property tax bills pour into the homes of Central Oregonians. You may sigh and sign your name on a check without a moment’s hesitation, but did you ever really look into where your money is going — and why?

You may be surprised how property tax es are divided up. You may be even more surprised to learn that you might be paying a lot more or less in property tax es than your neighbor.

“Oregon has a very complex and bizarre property tax system,” said Deschutes County Assessor Scot Langton.

Langton helps county residents make sense of their property tax bills.

“I find fascinating the challenge. But in the spirit of good, transparent, open government, I think the property tax system missed the mark,” he said.

Langton points to a pair of measures that have dictated property tax payouts since the early 1990s, Measure 5 and Measure 50. Both were designed to keep property tax es low while the housing market boomed.

“If we had no changes, and market values continued to appreciate, and there was no new construction, then you’d pay 3 percent more into the district, and they’d receive 3 percent more revenue,” said Langton.

But Bend continued to boom, and now thanks to those taxing formulas, there’s an unintended consequence of cutting property tax es through ballot measures.

“You have very similar properties paying very different tax es,” Langton said.

Once those tax es are paid, the money trail is another head-scratcher in itself. In the city of Bend, it goes to seven places. Schools take about 46 percent, the city takes about 21 percent, and the Bend Park and Recreation District takes almost 11 percent.

Comparatively speaking, within Deschutes County, Redmond, La Pine and Sisters each take about 1.5 percent from property tax es to spend on parks.

Bend Park and Rec Planning Director Michelle Healy says the funds from property tax es are limited in how they can be used — “things like the people running the programs, lifeguards running the pool, people running camps. Just the general operations.”

So where does the money come from for the months-long and million dollar projects, like the recently completed ice rink Pavilion or Whitewater Park?

The answer lies largely in system development charges, or SDCs. And that money comes out of the pockets of those looking to build in Bend — and down the line, the ones buying those homes.

Andy High is vice president of government affairs for the Central Oregon Builders Association. He says that SDCs are designed to make growth pay its own way.

“You’re going to pay those charges for the parks, water, sewer, and transportation. And on average it’s $20,000 worth for a new home,” High said.

For Healy and the parks district, SDCs serve as an incredibly important means of expanding the parks within the city.

So do voters, who have agreed to pony up millions more for major projects in recent years — and in the case of the whitewater park, whitewater enthusiasts also put up a significant chunk of the cost to build it.

“I’m optimistic to think that people would say, ‘Hey, I really recognize the value to the community and the larger community of what we have here,'” Healy said.

Yet the price of those SDCs can prove too steep for more affordable housing. “They can often stop or hold up (projects), because you have to pay that all up front,” High said.

Housing Works Executive Director Tom Kemper faces that problem almost daily in the city. He said he’s found relief through SDC waivers, but the parks district has been “conspicuously absent” from providing them. Several park board members have said they don’t see evidence waiving the fees makes much of a dent in the huge issue of lacking affordable housing in Bend.

Still, Kemper said, “You look at what they’re building, and think they might be able to sort of tailor on a long-term basis not getting an SDC. It’s frustrating.”

But Healy counters that by noting that providing waivers to SDCs runs the risk of limiting the park district’s ability to do its work, such as adding parks in new neighborhoods (or shifting the cost to others).

“SDCs are based on certain needs,” she said. “So if you waive a certain portion, there’s a risk of cutting a service that you provide.”

Parks Administrative Services Director Lindsey Lombard added that the park district provides $270,000 in assistance for lower-income residents looking to participate in programs in the district, and thousands more focused on creating opportunities to experience the parks and programs funded by property tax es.

In Part 2 of this special report, we explain why money can’t be moved from varying districts given property tax funding, and how city leaders look to tackle road rehabilitation with a proposed gas tax . Join us Thursday night, First at Ten on Fox.