Hillsboro re-designates Enterprise Zone, despite minimum wage percentage decrease

Posted on by Justin Pot

Hillsboro City Council passed a resolution re-designating the Hillsboro Enterprise Zone this week, but not without some dissent. Councilor Kyle Allen proposed that council delay voting on the zone for two weeks, due to concerns about the minimum wage provisions in the new proposal.

“We give up property taxes for a number of benefits, one of which is employers pay 150 per cent of minimum wage to their employees,” said Allen, noting that the proposed deal for the next ten years brings this down to 105 per cent. While noting that the reason for the drop reflects a desire to attract smaller businesses to the District, Allen stated the policy should be reviewed, possibly having different sets of rules for small and big businesses. The rest of council disagreed, all voting to approve the proposal as written by city staff.

Councillor Fred Nachtigal stated that the upcoming minimum wage increase in the Portland metro area nullifies the difference.

“I believe that Councillor Allen’s concern, while worthwhile, is misplaced on this motion based upon the mathematics,” said Nachtigal.

The current Hillsboro Enterprise Zone was approved in 2006, and gave companies willing to build infrastructure in certain areas of the city a five year break from property taxes, among other benefits, in exchange for companies agreeing to terms on things like average wages and funding workforce developement. According to the city, the program resulted in $2.1 billion in total private investment in the zone, leading to 3,400 jobs retained and 1,800 jobs created. $294 million dollars were paid out in property tax in second half of the ten-year term.

That term ends on June 30, and city officials are applying to the state to create a new Zone, with new terms. An industrial area in southwest Hillsboro will be added to the zone specifically for small businesses.

Other notes from the April 18 meeting

  • City councillors unanimously endorsed renewing the local option tax, which is on the ballot in May. The levy helps pay for the fire, police, and parks departments, but needs to be renewed by voters every five years. The levy amounts to $1.72 per $1,000 of assessed value of all property in the city.
  • Every member of the city council, and many of the city’s staff, were accompanied by members of the Youth Advisory Committee, who offered input through the meeting. Mayor Steve Calloway was particularly enthusiastic.

  • A Citizen Life Saving Aware was presented to Rose and Ian Mauk by the Hillsboro Fire Department, for using an atutomated external defibrillator to save a man who collapsed in a sauna at Shute Park Aquatic and Recreation Center back in December.
  • Numerous parcels of land surrounding the upcoming South Hillsboro development were annexed into Hillsboro, alongside a considerable chunk of land north of the Hillsboro Airport owned by the Port of Portland.