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Jim Heffernan's avatar

I don't like podcasts and its talking heads. Too easy to be gaslighted.

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Pete Stone's avatar

Vacation rentals aren't to blame for the housing shortage at the Coast. The last big housing study done for Tillamook County showed that the overlap between affordable housing and Short Term Rentals was only around 4%......not enough to move the needle. The vast majority of STR's simply aren't close to affordability to fill that need. Another key point made about STR's and affordable housing was made in the

Tillamook County Short Term Rental Committee from back in Dec 13, 2018: ...."The

study identifies two distinct housing markets within Tillamook County: a coastal market

where homes are priced well above $200,000, and an interior market concentrated

largely around Tillamook and other cities where homes are sold, by and large, for less

that $200,000. In review of real market values (RMV) per County Assessor records for

properties with issued short term rental permits, 60 of the 827 short term rental

properties, roughly 7%, were identified with an RMV of less than $200,000. The 61

properties are located throughout the County and the majority are in oceanfront

communities identified in the housing study as being located in the "coastal market"

Both percentages are significantly lower when applying a $160,000 threshold for

property values in relation to what could be "affordable housing" based on the median

gross income for households in Tillamook County of $42,581 per year. Based upon the

RMV of short term rental properties, 31 properties, or 4%. of the 827 properties fell at

or below this threshold." So....the key point again is how little overlap there really is

between Affordable Workforce Housing, and Short Term Rental properties in terms of

real world affordability.

Even though these studies are now a few years old….the essential point is still

valid……STR’s don’t qualify as anything close to “affordable” or “workforce” housing.

They exist at a price point well outside valuations that would qualify them as such. The

entire US is suffering with a lack of affordable housing, so this issue is much larger than

just a local problem, and is going to require multi agency public/private solutions going

forward. See: https://www.tillamookcounty.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/housing_commission/page/57834/tillamook_hna_final_report_v2.pdf

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Jim Heffernan's avatar

I think this crisis has been building since Reagan joked, "The government is not the solution, the government is the problem." Not enough of us vote and pay attention. Facebook, etc. fractures our attention. We love tax cuts, but just can't connect how it hurts our government and ourselves.

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c Anderson's avatar

Jim, sorry but you have it all wrong. Supply side economics really does work. Art Laffer a great economist in the Trump and Reagan administrations stated “Kennedy’s tax cuts of the 1960s doubled the post-1953 growth rate average of 2.5 percent to over 5 percent.” When people make more money, they pay more taxes.

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Jim Heffernan's avatar

Glad it works for you, it seemed to miss me and my family entirely. Unremmitting tax cuts and we're poorer than ever. Look at the explosion in tuition between 1975 and today.

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c Anderson's avatar

Yes, that happens when you rely on someone other than yourself to make ends meet. Biden left the room, and now you gotta make some changes. Change isn’t easy. Tuition is an investment in the future. The increases in tuition are due to administrative bloat. Here is an article for you. https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/how_taxpayer_subsidies_for_students_drives_up_college_tuition.html Keep in mind that college is optional as we are seeing with the young DOGE team. College is one way, but not the only way to a prosperous future.

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Jim Heffernan's avatar

Ah yes, the wonderful internet you can find an argument for whatever facts you choose. Never blame ourselves when we can blame others.

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c Anderson's avatar

You wouldn’t want to read a differing opinion with an open mind? I didn’t think so. Try reading the article by the professor at U of U.

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Jim Heffernan's avatar

I read it, thought it was garbage, thought they were facts pulled out of the air or worse. I still think the biggest difference from my youth when a minimum wage job could pay tuition to today when it can't is WE like low taxes better than supporting the next generation.

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Mar 6
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