Housing solutions require real investment. Whether it’s helping families with down payment assistance, supporting affordable housing development, providing emergency rental assistance, or acquiring land for workforce housing, these programs need dedicated funding to work.

Right now, the City doesn’t have a reliable funding source specifically for housing. This initiative creates a sustainable fund that grows over time, allowing Astoria to respond to housing needs as they arise. By asking vacant property owners to contribute, we’re ensuring that those who benefit from our community but don’t contribute through residency help fund solutions for those who live and work here year-round.

Under Oregon law, there’s a clear legal distinction between a tax and a fee. A tax raises money for general public purposes—like housing programs that benefit the whole community. A fee, on the other hand, is a charge you pay in exchange for a specific government service that directly benefits you, like a building permit or a sewer hookup.

This measure is a tax because the revenue goes into the Community Housing Fund to support affordable housing, rental assistance, and other programs that serve the broader Astoria community. Owners who pay the tax don’t receive a specific service in return—the money benefits the public as a whole. Oregon courts have consistently held that when a charge is spent on general public purposes rather than on services for the people paying it, it’s a tax, not a fee.

It’s specifically an excise tax—meaning it’s based on conduct (keeping a home vacant), not on property ownership or property value. You’re not taxed for owning a home; you’re taxed for the choice to keep it unused for most of the year.

A home is considered empty when it isn’t in a “qualifying use” for more than 182 days a year. Qualifying uses include:

• Someone living in it as their principal residence (owner or tenant)
• Being actively offered for long-term rental (30+ day tenancies)
• Operating as a licensed short-term rental that’s actively available for booking
• Having a long-term rented accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on the same property

Many life circumstances also don’t count toward the 182-day vacancy threshold—like medical care, military service, disaster recovery, handling an estate, or active renovation with permits.

Each year by April 30, you’ll file a Tax Declaration reporting whether your home was in qualifying use during the previous calendar year. Most people just confirm they live there or rent it out. Paper forms are mailed to owners at least 30 days before the deadline, and you can also file online or in person.

If you forget to file, the City will send a reminder with at least 30 days to respond—no one gets assessed without notice. You can always provide documentation if there’s a question about your occupancy.

If tax is owed, payment is due by October 31 of the year following the tax year.

Properties owned by 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are fully exempt.

Properties owned by the federal government, State of Oregon, City of Astoria, counties, and other political subdivisions are exempt.

Individual owners facing financial hardship can apply for an exemption (see the Financial Hardship Exemption question below).

If you’re an individual owner who has experienced a significant, involuntary hardship beyond your control that prevented you from putting your home to use, you may qualify for this exemption. To qualify, you must show that:

• You experienced a significant and involuntary hardship beyond your reasonable control
• The hardship prevented you from being able to occupy, rent, or otherwise use the property
• The hardship lasted at least 90 consecutive days during the calendar year

Examples of qualifying hardships include individual bankruptcy, a documented medical illness or injury, involuntary job loss with 60+ days of unemployment, or other circumstances of comparable severity.

This exemption can be granted for up to 2 consecutive years. Extensions beyond that require City Council approval.

ADUs are not independently subject to the tax—only primary dwelling units are.

If you have a permitted ADU on the same property as your primary dwelling, having that ADU occupied by a long-term tenant (or actively offering it for long-term rental) counts as a qualifying use for your primary dwelling unit. This means that even if your main house sits empty, a rented ADU on the same lot can keep the property from being considered vacant.

Several life circumstances qualify as “vacancy exclusion periods,” meaning those days don’t count toward the 182-day threshold:

Personal circumstances: Care Period (you or a family member receiving medical care, or you providing care to a family member in a care facility); Military Service Period (serving in the Armed Forces); Civilian Service Period (serving as a firefighter or other emergency service worker).

Property circumstances: Disaster Period (home made uninhabitable by fire, landslide, natural disaster, etc.—up to 3 years, unless the owner caused the damage); Owner Death Period (handling an estate after an owner’s death who was the sole occupant—the longer of 2 years or the duration the property remains in probate court); Rehabilitation Period (actively renovating with a building permit where work materially impairs habitability, limited to a reasonable timeframe to complete the work); Emergency Period (City Council-declared emergency—up to 1 year total, in 60-day increments).

For life circumstances like medical care, military service, renovation, or disaster recovery, you report them on your annual Tax Declaration.

For the Financial Hardship Exemption, you submit documentation showing you experienced a qualifying hardship. The City Manager or their designee will review your application and issue a written decision. If denied, you can appeal.

Nonprofits and government properties are automatically exempt.

Your property must be genuinely available to the public at reasonable rates and terms. This means listing it through a publicly accessible platform or other commercially recognized listing method, being legally eligible for occupancy, and not having restrictions, conditions, or pricing that would limit its availability to the general public.

If there’s ever a question, you can show evidence like rental listings or advertising records.

If your home is made uninhabitable due to fire, landslide, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event, you get a vacancy exclusion for up to 3 years following the disaster. During this time, those days don’t count toward the 182-day threshold.

This exclusion does not apply if the owner or their agent caused or contributed to the damage through negligence or willful action.

The fund can be used to build and preserve affordable and workforce housing, help locals afford to live here, and keep existing homes in use. Specifically, the measure allows:

• Constructing new affordable or workforce housing
• Purchasing property for affordable or workforce housing development
• Building infrastructure directly related to affordable or workforce housing construction
• Acquiring existing housing to continue operating it as affordable or workforce housing
• Renovating and maintaining affordable or workforce housing units, including rehab loan programs
• Paying property owners to add affordability or local employment-based deed restrictions
• Housing assistance programs like rental subsidies, security deposit help, and homebuyer support
• Tenant support services like housing hotlines, landlord-tenant dispute resolution, legal aid, and fair housing programs

The fund can also cover the administrative costs of managing the program. All uses must be directly related to housing.

The fund is intended to support preserving or creating housing that serves low- and moderate-income households, with particular attention to households earning less than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

“Affordable or Workforce Housing” is defined as housing affordable to households earning up to 120% of AMI, adjusted for household size.

The City Council will establish clear eligibility standards for each housing program, which will be made publicly available. These standards may consider factors like household income, wealth, housing cost burden, household size, type of housing need, connection to Astoria’s workforce, risk of displacement, and disability or accessibility needs.

All standards will be applied uniformly to similarly situated applicants to ensure the fund serves those who need it most.

It depends on how much you use it. If your home sits empty for more than 182 days a year without being in a qualifying use, the tax applies.

But you have options: Use it at least 183 days yourself as a principal residence, rent it long-term (30+ day tenancies), rent your ADU to a long-term tenant, run it as an active licensed short-term rental, or pay the tax knowing you’re contributing to community housing.

If it’s your principal residence—the place you actually live for at least six months of the year—then being away on vacation doesn’t make it vacant. The home is still your principal residence.

This tax targets homes that sit empty with no one living in them, not people’s primary residences when they’re away on trips.

There’s no automatic exemption just because your home is for sale.

However, if you’re facing a significant, involuntary financial hardship that directly prevents you from putting the property to use, and the hardship lasted at least 90 consecutive days during the year, you may qualify for the Financial Hardship Exemption. This exemption can be granted for up to 2 consecutive years, with extensions beyond that requiring City Council approval.

A temporary gap between tenants is normal. What matters is the total number of days the property is in qualifying use over the whole year.

If you’re actively offering the property for long-term rental—publicly listed and genuinely available at reasonable rates—those days count as qualifying use even if no tenant has moved in yet.

The measure counts days of qualifying use for the full calendar year. If you acquired a property mid-year that was vacant before you owned it, those days still count toward the 182-day threshold.

Properties in probate after an owner’s death get special protection—vacant days don’t count while handling the estate. This protection lasts for the longer of 2 years or the duration the property remains in probate court.

If your Astoria home is still your principal residence—where you intend to return and live for at least six months of the year—being away for work doesn’t make it vacant.

But if you’ve effectively moved elsewhere and the Astoria home sits empty more than 182 days, it would be considered vacant. Military service members and firefighters/emergency responders have special protection—their days away don’t count as vacant.

Yes. If you disagree with a tax assessment, an estimated assessment, a denied exemption, or a penalty, you have 30 days after receiving notice to file a written appeal with the City Auditor.

Your appeal will be heard by an independent Administrative Hearing Officer who wasn’t involved in the original decision. The Hearing Officer will issue a written decision after you’ve had a chance to present evidence and argument.

Filing an appeal pauses collection while your case is being reviewed, so you don’t have to pay the disputed amount during the appeal process.

The tax is due by October 31 of the year following the tax year (or 30 days after you receive the Notice of Tax Due, whichever is later). Late payments are subject to a 10% delinquency penalty plus interest at 1.5% per month. The City can pursue collection through civil action if necessary.

This is a personal debt, not a lien on your property, and it’s not collected on the property tax roll.

If you miss the April 30 filing deadline, there’s a late filing penalty of at least $35. The City will send you a notice of noncompliance with at least 30 days to submit your form.

If you still don’t file after that notice, the City may issue an Estimated Assessment based on available information like utility data, licensing records, and rental listings. You can always contest an estimated assessment by submitting your declaration or other evidence. An estimated assessment does not create any presumption that you owe the tax—it just starts the process so you can respond.

The tax takes effect January 1, 2027. The first tax year would be calendar year 2027.

You’d file your first Tax Declaration by April 30, 2028, covering 2027. If tax is owed, payment would be due by October 31, 2028.