Development Incentives Fee Refunds

Submit your refund request online

You may apply for a refund by filling out this form:

Email your completed form to Development-Incentives@portlandoregon.gov.

To see a list of Development Incentives fees, visit this page:

Development Incentives Fee Schedule

Request a paper copy of the Refund Request Form

If you need a paper copy, email Development-Incentives@portlandoregon.gov.

Mail your completed paper form to:

Portland Housing Bureau – Development Incentives
1900 SW 4^th Ave, Suite 7007
Portland, OR 97201

Development Incentives refund policy

Deadline

Refund requests must be made by submitting a completed Refund Request Form. Requests for refunds must be made within 6 months of payment or development incentive application approval or denial, whichever is later. 

Note: A request for a refund of the Affordable Housing Construction Excise Tax (AHCET) may be submitted up to 3 years from the date of payment of the construction excise tax in accordance with Portland City Code Section 6.08.110.B.

Refund Recipient

Refunds may only be issued to the party who paid the fees, according to the payor information on record at the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) or Portland Permitting & Development (PP&D, previously Bureau of Development Services or BDS). 

Refund Amount

As a general rule, if fees are paid by customers due to an error on the part of PHB, these fees will be fully refunded at 100%. However, the following applies to all fees paid in error by customers, where PHB was not at fault in accepting payment.

Refunds up to 80% may be issued if PHB services covered by the customer fees have not yet begun or have not been performed at the time a Refund Request is received by PHB.

If an application is denied or cancelled, PHB shall retain that portion of the application fee which is attributable to its own administrative costs and shall refund the balance to the applicant.

Questions?

If you have questions regarding a refund of a Development Incentives program fee, please contact the Development Incentives team at Development-Incentives@portlandoregon.gov.

Note: PHB does not process refunds of System Development Charges (SDCs). SDCs that have been paid cannot be refunded if the building permit has been issued. Exemptions must be applied to the building permit prior to building permit issuance by each of the charging SDC Bureaus. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the appropriate exemptions were applied prior to pulling the permit. Visit this page for more information on SDCs.