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Voters in Vancouver, Washington, were passing a property tax levy that would fund affordable housing in the city.
Proposition No. 1 would tax Vancouver property owners 36 cents per $1,000 assessed value. City staff said it will raise up to $6 million a year the city can spend on affordable housing. The levy will last for seven years.
“It should be possible for working families to afford housing and still have enough money for basics like groceries, gas and child care,” said Andy Silver, executive director of Council for the Homeless, in May.
Proposition No. 1 arose after the city of Vancouver declared a housing emergency in April.
“[It’s] obviously a very pressing issue for our community whether we are declaring an emergency for the ordinance or just a recognition that we have a housing issue in our community,” Leavitt said at the time of the declaration.
Like much of the Portland metro area, Vancouver's rental-unit vacancy rates have been among the lowest in the country.