Molly LeBlanc

In Oregon, property is valued as of January 1. Our fiscal tax year runs from July 1st through June 30th. With property taxes due on the following November 15th.

The dates at the top of your statement reflect the fiscal tax year for the property taxes imposed.

1. Depicts the physical location of your property.
2. Depicts the abbreviated legal description of your property Township, Range, Section and Tax Lot as per the Assessor's Maps.
3. Depicts the Property Tax Account Number in the Assessor's Records.
4. Breakdown of your property taxes to the local districts.
5. Real Market Value of your property listed by land, building and total. SAV total value if your property has any special use such as farm. Assessed Total is the amount of value used to impose property taxes. For information about appealing your value click here.
6. Any prior year's tax remaining unpaid will be listed here. Accounts that are subject to foreclosure will be indicated with an asterisk (*) next to the total for that year.

View an example of a tax statement

• If your tax statement is yellow...
  ...it means our records show your Mortgage Company or Oregon's Senior Deferral program notified us they will be paying your tax bill. If you have any questions regarding who is paying your property tax, contact your Mortgage Company. REMEMBER: you are ultimately responsible for paying your taxes
• If you receive a green statement...
  ...it means that the property owner pays the tax.
  Keep the top of this statement for your records and return the bottom portion with your payment in the envelope provided.

Mailing Address Changes
If the mailing address on your statement is incorrect or has changed, please check the box on the front of your payment stub and write the correct or changed address on the back of the payment stub. Or you may notify us of the change via email, fax or letter. By Oregon law, it is the property owner's responsibility to inform the Assessor of any address changes.
Late payments lose the discount and accrue interest

source:www.clackamas.us

General information

In Oregon, property taxes are assessed for real property, machinery and equipment, manufactured structures, business personal property, and floating property. Oregon has an ad valorem property tax system, which means the property taxes you pay are based on the value the county assessor establishes for your property.

The assessor estimates the value of most taxable property on January 1, prior to the beginning of the tax year. The tax year runs from July 1 through June 30. January 1 is called the "assessment date." The assessor's estimate of value will appear on the tax statement mailed to you in October.

The following terms and definitions are provided to help you understand how your property is valued and assessed.

• Real Market Value (RMV) is the value the assessor has estimated your property would sell for on the open market as of the assessment date. RMV appears on most property tax statements.
• Maximum Assessed Value (MAV) is the greater of 103 percent of the prior year's assessed value or 100 percent of the prior year's MAV. MAV is not limited to an increase of 3 percent if certain changes are made to your property. These changes are called exceptions. MAV does not appear on most tax statements.
• Assessed Value (AV) is the value used to calculate your tax. It is the lesser of RMV or MAV. Assessed value appears on your tax statement.
• Exception means a change to property, not including general ongoing maintenance and repair or minor construction. Changes that could affect maximum assessed value include new construction or additions, major remodeling or reconstruction, rezoning with use consistent with the change in zoning, a partition or subdivision, or a disqualification from special assessment or exemption. Minor construction is defined as additions of real property improvements with a real market value that does not exceed $10,000 in one assessment year or $25,000 over a period of five assessment years. Exception value does not appear on your tax statement.
• Specially Assessed Value (SAV) is a value established by statute. The legislature has created several programs that set lower assessed value levels for certain types of property. Each program has specific applications and use requirements. Examples of property that may qualify for special assessment are farmland, forestland, historic property, government-restricted low income multi-unit housing, and property that qualifies as "open space." SAV appears on most tax statements for property that is specially assessed.

Appealing to your county board of property tax appeals

Appealing to the county board of property tax appeals (BOPTA) is generally the first step in the appeal process. Most appeals start at this level.

You may appeal the current year real market, maximum assessed, specially assessed, or assessed value of your property.

The majority of appeals will be based on a difference of opinion between you and the assessor about RMV. In such cases, you will need to present evidence about the market value of your property as it existed on the assessment date. Evidence might include an appraisal report of your property done by an independent appraiser or a comparison of your property with similar properties that have recently sold in your area.

Comparing the value on the tax roll of your house to the value on the tax roll of your neighbor's house, or comparing the taxes you pay to the taxes your neighbor pays is generally not considered satisfactory evidence.

The following are examples in which an appeal of RMV may result in a tax benefit:

• The board reduces the RMV below the assessed value currently on the roll.
• Your property has recently been improved and the board reduces the value of the new construction.
• The board reduces the RMV of your property, and the reduction requires property taxes to be reduced to meet constitutional limits on the education and general government categories of your taxes. See Tax Limitation (Compression) at www.oregon.gov/DOR/PTD/property.shtml for more information.

If you wish to appeal the value of principal or secondary industrial property appraised by the Department of Revenue (DOR), you may file your appeal with either the Magistrate Division of the Tax Court or BOPTA. Both have the same filing deadlines.

The value of utilities and other centrally assessed property must be appealed to DOR on or before June 15 of the assessment year.

Penalties charged for late filing of a current year's real or personal property return may also be appealed to the board. The board may waive all or a portion of a penalty imposed for the late filing of a return if:

• You can prove there was good and sufficient cause for the late filing, or
• The year for which the return was filed was both the first year that a return was required to be filed and the first year you filed a return.

How to file your petition

You must file appeals between the date the tax statements are mailed and December 31. If December 31 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the filing deadline moves to the next business day. File your petition with the county clerk's office in the county where the property is located. You can get the forms you need from your county clerk or county assessor's office. You may also download forms from www.oregon.gov/DOR/PTD.

If you are not the owner of the property, carefully read the petition instructions to learn if you are qualified to file the appeal.

The board will consider your appeal between the first Monday in February and April 15. If you choose to appear at the hearing, BOPTA will send you written notice of the time and location. If you choose not to appear, the board will make a decision based on the evidence you submit with the petition.

The board will notify you in writing of its decision. If you are not satisfied with the decision, you have the right to appeal as follows:

Appealing county board decisions

You may appeal a decision of BOPTA to the Magistrate Division of the Oregon Tax Court by filing a written complaint. The assessor may also appeal the board's decision. The fee for filing a complaint with the Magistrate Division is $25.

Complaints must be filed with the Magistrate Division within 30 days (not one month), after the board's order is mailed to you. You can download appeal forms from www.oregon.gov/OJD, or write to: Clerk, Oregon Tax Court, Magistrate Division, 1163 State Street, Salem OR 97301. You can also order forms by calling 503-986-5650 or by calling your county assessor.

Appealing magistrate decisions

You may appeal magistrate decisions to the Regular Division of the Oregon Tax Court. To appeal, file your complaint with the court clerk within 60 days (not two months) after the date of the magistrate's decision. The tax court clerk will notify you of the trial date and time.

A trial in the Regular Division of the Oregon Tax Court is a formal proceeding. Although you may represent yourself, most people prefer to be represented by a lawyer. If you are not satisfied with the tax court decision, you can appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court.

Failure to appeal to BOPTA

Under very limited circumstances, DOR or the Magistrate Division may be able to hear your appeal if you miss the deadline for filing with BOPTA. For more information about appealing to the department, see the publication Supervisory Power: Error Correction Procedure, 150-303-688. You may obtain a copy of this circular by calling the Property Tax Conference Unit at 503-945-8286, or from the website listed below.

For more information click here

source:Department of Revenue: www.oregon.gov

Clackamas County Average Property Tax Increases (Last Year's Tax vs. This Year's Tax)

NEW VOTER APPORVED MONEY MEASURES:

source: www.clackamas.us

Courtesy of KGW.com

06:23 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 20, 2009
By KGW.com Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Homeowners who've seen their property values drop during the past year may be surprised to open their mailboxes this month and find that their property taxes have increased.
In Clackamas County, real property values declined 9.3 percent from a year ago. However, property tax bills mailed this week will increase an average of 8.7 percent.

In Washington County, real market values dropped by an average of 8.7 percent, while the average property bill will increase about 7 percent.

In Multnomah County, property tax bills were expected to go up by 6 percent, despite a drop in real market value.

Rising bills, declining values

There are two reasons for this seeming contradiction - and no elected officials to blame or punish.

Twelve years ago, voters approved Measure 50, which separated the real market value of a property from the actual property taxes, capping the annual rate of tax increases. The tax-limit measure has worked to homeowners' benefit since 1997.

Assessed values have been used ever since to calculate property taxes instead of real market value. However, real market value is the amount paid to buy or sell a home.

Property tax bills only decrease if real market value ever drops below assessed value.

Measure 50 also rolled assessed values back two years when it passed, and instituted a cap on annual property tax increases of 3 percent. Any voter-approved tax measures or bonds that may make the ballot in any given year are on top of that cap, and that is the second reason for higher taxes: local tax measures.

Local measures drive up taxes

Depending on tax district, voters in local areas can approve additional taxes above the 3 percent limits of Measure 50. For example, majorities enacted bond measures funding Oregon Zoo renovations, Portland Community College, and inside Portland proper, the Children's Investment Fund, last November.

Understanding your tax bill

Clackamas County has compiled a city-by-city summary of average property tax increases They range from just a 4 percent increase in Damascus to 28 percent for residents who voted for a major construction bond measure for the Oregon Trail School District. Go here to the Clackamas County Assessment and Taxation home page. Here is a typical Clackamas County property tax statement.

A more thorough and technical explanation of the tax formula was available at the website for The Multnomah County assessor's office.
The Oregon Department of Revenue explains how property taxes work in Oregon. Here are links to every county assessor's office in Oregon.

Federal grant gives Gateway Neighborhood Park the go-ahead

A new park for the Gateway neighborhood, long identified as one of the city's most park-deficient districts, will take a step closer to reality with a $200,000 Brownfields Clean-up Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), awarded in August 2009 to the Portland Development Commission (PDC) for site clean-up.

PDC and Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R) are partners in the Gateway Neighborhood Park site at 10506-10512 and 10520 NE Halsey Street, which they acquired last winter. Environmental assessments of the four-acre site revealed contaminants on the southern property that require remediation. The EPA grant funds will go toward cleaning up the property and obtaining a No Further Action determination by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, which will essentially give the site a clean bill of health. Ultimately, PDC and PP&R expect the site to be transformed into a three-acre park, with one acre of supporting, complementary redevelopment.

Acquisition of property in Gateway for a park has been a priority since the inception of the Gateway Regional Center Urban Renewal Area (URA) in 2001; the Gateway Neighborhood Park will be the first public park added to the district in the past eight years.

"A new park is always good news, but a new park in an area that has so few is really good news," said Bob Earnest, chairman of the Gateway Program Advisory Committee. "It's another step in the right direction for Gateway," he added.

The Gateway Neighborhood Park project includes deconstruction of a commercial building and redevelopment of the site as a public park. The environmental clean-up is expected to take place between December 2009 and April 2010, followed by master planning January to December 2010 and park improvements from 2011 to 2013.

PDC has published a draft Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives and draft Cleanup Plan to describe the remediation activities for the future park site. The public is invited to view these documents and submit feedback and comments on the cleanup alternatives. Complete information can be downloaded from the PDC website at http://www.pdc.us/gatewaypark. Direct all questions to Justin Douglas, 503-823-4579 (voice) or douglasj@pdc.us (email).

An extensive public outreach and participation effort will be included in the master planning effort to determine the most appropriate features and design to serve park users.

PDC and PP&R are committed to keeping the public informed about this project and to seeking stakeholder feedback regularly through Gateway Program Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings, and as invited, at other community meetings. PAC meetings are open to the public and posted on the PDC Gateway Urban Renewal Area webpage calendar at: http://www.pdc.us/gateway