Letter to the Editor: Good deal for whom?

Certainly not for those of us who own property in The Dalles and have been assessed thousands of dollars over the years to fund the Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency for them to “invest,” the word so often used by our politicians and appointed officials when spending other people’s money.

Let’s take a closer look at how good a deal this so-called investment was:

The Granada was purchased by the city in May 2010, near the nadir of the falling real estate market, for $385,406. It was sold in March 2017 in a recovered and relatively heated real estate market for $60,000 (with $40,000 of that borrowed from the city).

In other words, our Urban Renewal “investors” bought in a buyer’s market, sold in a seller’s market, and somehow still lost 85 percent on the deal during a time when the average real estate investor in Oregon would have realized a 40 percent gain.

Homeowners in The Dalles are assessed about $200 per year on average for Urban Renewal. Consider a hypothetical 35-year-old homeowner in The Dalles. If the city allowed that homeowner to keep their money, about $17 per month could be invested by that homeowner in a low-cost, passively managed mutual fund. For example, a fund indexed to the S&P 500, which over the past 30 years (assuming re-investment of dividends) has returned over 11 percent per year. At age 65, that homeowner would have over $50,000.

Imagine The Dalles with hundreds, if not thousands, of homeowners each with tens of thousands of extra dollars available for them to invest because the city didn’t tax them for Urban Renewal. That is how a thriving market is created.

It’s time for The Dalles City Council, Mayor, and appointed officials to stop telling property owners that they know better than we do how to invest our money.

Instead of a self-congratulatory attitude over their “good deal” it’s time for objective reassessment of what Urban Renewal should be doing.

Here’s my suggestion: Cut the Urban Renewal tax by 90 percent, focus on bringing investors together with owners of obsolete commercial properties, ease regulations and permitting processes that inhibit development of properties, and limit spending to publicly owned infrastructure that encourages private investment.

Keith Stelzer

The Dalles