Taxes are a big reason for high rental costs. I just built a home and was surprised by the 'excise' taxes. $4,000 for the permits, $4,000 to the city, and $4,000 to the county just to build. That is on top of normal property taxes. That money has to be recouped by the investor.
In my previous editorial I, unfortunately, wrote in hyperbole. Let me correct it and be exact. I have built a house with 1981 sq. ft. My WASCO permit was $5,039.2 which included a school district excise tax of $2,575.30 ($1.30 per sq. ft. ) City permit was $6,196 which included parks and recreation charge of $1,747 ( a flat fee ) This is in addition to normal property taxes that are paid annually. An investor has to recoup these charges. An annual property tax of $4,800 would equate to $400 per month taken from the rent. Any profit would be further subject to income taxes. All these government taxes/fees add to the cost of the rent.
-Arthur Isaacson, The Dalles
