Salem, Oregon – Governor Tina Kotek, working with Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS), has started the new Moderate Income Revolving Loan (MIRL) program as a major step to solve Oregon’s housing crisis. This creative project is meant to give zero-interest loans to counties and cities lacking the money to start building new homes.
The MIRL initiative seeks to remove the financial obstacles frequently hindering the growth of moderate-income housing projects, therefore lowering total housing costs and increasing Oregonian homeownership possibilities. The initiative guarantees that residents may afford to live near their places of employment by strengthening the building of affordable homes, therefore supporting the state’s larger economic situation.
“When Oregonians making a good wage can’t afford to live where they work, our businesses and communities can’t thrive. We have to work to make sure all Oregon families can afford a home with the urgency they deserve,” Governor Kotek said. “This program is an essential piece of the affordability puzzle, lending a hand to our local partners who need a little help to make the balance sheet make sense.”
“The heart of local governments is rooted in making everyday life better for their residents. Boosting housing support reinforces the importance and unity we ought to have about getting big things done, through locally driven housing solutions,” OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell said.
“The Moderate Income Revolving Loan aims to empower cities and counties by providing loans to local governments, which can support developers to ensure housing prices are within reach to individuals and families who struggle to secure enough traditional credit or financing. With its revolving structure, repaid funds are reinvested to support others who need them to create new housing. No matter where they live in Oregon, people deserve a housing system that works for them.”
With people like Senator Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City) realizing the need for creative financial solutions to remove the cost obstacles related to home development, the program has attracted bipartisan support.
“Our cities and counties across Oregon need innovative tools to help with the cost of housing projects. The Moderate Income Revolving Loan fund is now one of those tools,” Senator Dick Anderson said. “Thank you to Governor Kotek and Representative Marsh for partnering on this important legislation. I will continue to work across the aisle with my colleagues to solve Oregon’s most pressing issues.”
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Housing units must be rented or sold to families making less than 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) over the loan term, usually 10 years, to be eligible for the MIRL program. Interestingly, the program lets the loan be paid back with a fee in-lieu of property taxes, therefore relieving homeowners of extra financial load.
With an investment of $75 million to the MIRL Fund, the MIRL program is a component of a bigger housing plan embodied in Senate Bill 1537 (2024) which also launched the Housing Infrastructure Support Fund and the Housing Accountability and Production Office.
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Thanks to these initiatives, the state expects financing for 2,800 affordable homes as well as the required infrastructure for over 25,000 affordable and market-rate housing units by July 2025. The 2025–2027 budget proposal of Governor Kotek seeks to improve Oregon’s housing supply even more, therefore attesting to a continuous dedication to fully address the state’s housing issues.
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