Letter: Vancouver’s homelessness crisis – A financial, environmental, and moral failure

Vancouver resident Peter Bracchi says we can’t afford homelessness inaction — or lost tax revenue

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

Vancouver’s homelessness crisis isn’t just a public-safety and environmental disaster—it’s also a profound fiscal failure. We’re bleeding resources on ineffective policy while losing vital tax revenues that could fund real solutions.

1. Today’s Fiscal Reality
We face a $43 million budget gap in the 2025–26 biennium, prompting five new city taxes and cuts to nine staff positions—including police and fire support—while overall spending ballooned by $110 million more than planned.
At the same time, we’re borrowing billions to remediate PFAS—$10 million in low-interest loans and $12 million in forgivable aid—even as new PFAS sources proliferate.
Each half-hearted “sweep” of encampments costs taxpayer dollars, yet fails to address root causes.

2. Tax Incentives Slashing Revenue
To promote housing growth, the city has been offering generous tax breaks to developers:

The Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) offers property tax exemptions for up to 12 years (income-based) or 8 years (market rate), postponing property tax revenues for over a decade.
The Construction Sales & Use Tax Deferral Program, adopted in January 2025, allows developers building affordable units on redeveloped parking lots to skip paying sales or use taxes on construction—if they maintain affordability for 10 years.
A September 2024 approval granted a developer a 12-year MFTE plus a $900,000 loan, in exchange for reserving 10 affordable units.
A 2023 policy introduced 8-year exemptions for market-rate projects, offset by fees in lieu of affordable units—meaning even market-rate housing benefits from deferred taxes.

These incentives may spur development, but they postpone tax revenues for years—just when we’re grappling with budget shortfalls and homestretch investing for PFAS cleanup and public safety.

3. The Cost of Doing Nothing
At the same time, homeless encampments continue fouling Burnt Bridge Creek with trash, sewage, and PFAS-laden gear, lighting fires under BPA power lines, and blocking ADA-accessible sidewalks with tents, outhouses, and trash cans—even ones the city placed—creating recurring public health emergencies. Overdoses are so common that neighbors keep Narcan at home to save lives.
All while taxes are cut and spending is deferred in a city drowning in crises.

Conclusion
We’re spending millions to fix problems we keep allowing to recur. We’re starving our budget with tax breaks while investing in temporary—and ineffective—responses to homelessness. If these camps were in front of the mayor’s house, they’d vanish overnight. But right now, residents, waterways, and infrastructure are paying the price for a lack of leadership.

Vancouver deserves policy that balances encouragement of housing development with fiscal responsibility—and a humane, effective response to homelessness that protects our environment, public safety, and the long-term health of our budget.

Peter Bracchi
Vancouver

Vancouver resident Peter Bracchi says we can’t afford homelessness inaction — or lost tax revenue

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