The State of Oregon has always relied on the property tax system as a major source of revenue. In fact it was the only source for both local and state government for many years. In 1929 the first state-wide income tax was adopted by a vote of the people as a property tax relief measure.
The purpose of the ad valorem, which means "according to value", property tax system is to provide a financing mechanism for local governments such as cities, school districts, fire districts and special districts. Property taxes are no longer used to fund state government. While the county is among those local governments that receive property tax revenues, less than 14 cents out of every dollar assessed is for Columbia County. In effect, the work that we do is on behalf of all of the taxing districts in the county and the patrons of those districts.
Ballot Measure 50 significantly changes Oregon's property tax system. In addition to converting taxing district's levy authority from a levy based to a rate based system, the measure introduced assessed value limits for all property. It requires the assessor to calculate and track a second value for each property. Since property taxes are no longer calculated on market value, the emphasis will shift from reappraising property to appraisals that may affect assessed value, such as new construction, areas where market values have declined, disqualification from exemption/deferral, property divisions and zone changes. Unlike the old system, under a rate based system, changes in assessed value directly affect taxing district's revenue.
The administration of the property tax system has essentially three elements: assessment, tax collection and distribution. The assessment function involves a number of steps, all of which are intended to result in an accurate, fair and timely assessment roll that complies with state statutes and Department of Revenue rules and regulations. In the simplest of terms, the steps are:
- Location and identification (mapping) of all property in the county.
- Valuation of all property, real and personal, in the county, both real market value and the new maximum assessed value under Measure 50.
- Determination of the taxable status of each property.
- Review of each taxing district's property tax levy.
- Calculation of a tax rate for each taxing district, including separate rates for bonded debt levies.
- Extension of consolidated rates for each code area to individual properties and application of constitutional limits.
- Review of values upon request of property owners and, if necessary, presentation at appeal hearings.
Once the first six steps are completed, the assessment roll is turned over to the appointed tax collector for tax statement printing and mailing and for collection of the tax amount due from each property. Once the tax is collected, it is turned over to the County Treasurer for distribution to the taxing districts.
To accomplish all of these steps, the assessors office is divided into three areas: cartography, appraisal and assessment records.
Cartography (Step 1)
This section is responsible for tracking ownership of all real property in the county and maintaining a complete set of tax lot maps. All documents recorded in the County Clerk's Deed Records are reviewed to determine if they involve a change in property ownership or property description. This section has been converting from mylar mapping to digital mapping and has incorporated many layers of data for our GIS program. This section employs a Chief Cartographer, a GIS Programmer and a Cartographer.
Appraisal (Steps 2, 3 & 7)
Even though market value may no longer determine the amount of taxes assessed against a property, we are still required to appraise each property at 100 percent of market value. There are a number of reasons for this: a property's market value could be less than the maximum assessed value, market value determines the ratio that new property is assessed and market value is still used to test for the Measure 5 limits. Thus it is essential that each property be valued fairly and equitably. Since it is not feasible to physically appraise each of the approximately 26000 real property accounts every year, mass appraisal techniques have been adopted statewide. This involves appraising a limited number of properties each year and using area sales to adjust the prior year's value of those properties not appraised. Some properties are exempt from taxation, such as government buildings and property of religious or charitable organizations. Some properties are assessed at less than market value, such as farm or forest land. There are over 40 such statutory programs. It is the responsibility of the appraisal staff to determine the taxable status of each property. Appraising new construction is obviously a priority. Once values are established, questions often arise as to the accuracy of the appraisal. This can be done through an internal review or upon appeal to the local Board of Property Tax Appeals or to the Oregon Tax Court. This section employs an Assessor/Chief Appraiser, a Data Analyst and five Appraisers.
Assessment Records (Steps 4, 5 & 6)
There are 36 taxing districts in the county which can levy a property tax that has to be reviewed and incorporated into the assessment roll by this office. In addition, there are a number of special assessments, such as drainage district and Department of Forestry special assessments that are added on a per acre basis. While the process of calculating tax rates and extending taxes to individual properties is computerized, there are a number of review and balancing processes to ensure that everything is accurate. Several reports are required to be filed with the state for statistical purposes. In addition to the assessment roll preparation, the assessment records staff is responsible for responding to telephone and public counter inquires on a wide variety of topics. This section employs a Deputy Assessor/Office Manager and three Assessment Clerks.