A rural city's aggressive push for more housing

In rural Oregon, a lack of new and good quality housing hampers economic development in communities that are desperate for investment.   The lack of new housing means rural communities miss out on valuable property taxes that could be used to provide many of the amenities enjoyed by urban residents.   In the small eastern Oregon city of John Day, government officials have a plan to reverse this trend by offering generous financial incentives for new home construction and remodels. John Day, pop. 1,674, currently has 170 acres of underdeveloped land that has almost no tax value. Only three site-built houses have been constructed in the past decade.      To attract developers, the city is offering to pay builders system development charges of $7,400, as well as a 7% cash rebate on new home construction. Property owners that remodel their homes can get a 15% cash rebate based on the increase in the property’s assessed value.For the city to recover its investment, houses have to be located in the urban renewal area encompassing 20% of land scattered throughout the city. The area includes every buildable lot that is zoned residential and approved for development.