Marion County tax statements were mailed October 15, and should arrive in property owner mailboxes beginning today. Tom Rohlfing, Marion County Assessor, certified the 2015-2016 Tax Roll to County Clerk Bill Burgess on October 9, 2015.
The Real Market Value of Marion County property increased by 5.3% from last year, to $36.72 billion. Real Market Value is the estimated amount in cash that could reasonably be expected to be paid for a property by an informed buyer to an informed seller. Improved non-commercial properties of all types increased in value by an average of 8.0%. A more limited subset comprised of residential properties in cities and towns increased by a stronger 8.7%.
The overall Assessed Value of Marion County grew by 4.08% over last year to $22.49 billion. Under Oregon's unique tax system, the Assessed Value of a property is the lower of the Real Market Value or the statutorily derived Maximum Assessed Value. Both non-commercial improved properties as a whole, and the more limited subset of residential properties in cities and towns, increased in assessed value by an average of 4.5%.
Under Oregon's unique property tax system, Assessed Value is generally limited to increases of 3% per year. Exceptions to this include properties improved during calendar year 2014, and some of the approximately 24,000 properties assessed on Real Market Value in 2014-15 that experienced Real Market Value increases of more than 3% for 2015-16.
The total amount of taxes, special assessments, fees and charges to be collected on behalf of all tax districts in Marion County is $369.3 million for the 2015-16 tax year. This represents an increase of 5.2% over the $351.3 million levied in 2014-15.
The primary beneficiaries of Marion County property taxes are schools, the community college, and educational service districts, receiving 44.9% of the total. Other major recipients include the various cities (23.2%), Marion County government (18.0%), and fire districts (6.5%). Urban renewal districts receive about 3%, including: Silverton; ($393,381), Salem ($10,151,398), and Woodburn ($570,253).
Measure 5, a Constitutional amendment approved by Oregon voters in 1990, is still in effect. This amendment created a permanent limitation on property taxes of $10 per $1,000 of Real Market Value for general government services and $5 per $1,000 of real market value for education services. Measure 5 reductions amounted to a $2,789,017 loss in property tax revenues for the tax districts this year. Due to the increase in property values for 2015-16, this "compression" loss declined by 23% from the $3,639,525 loss of 2014-15.
Nearly $6.4 billion of Marion County property is exempt from taxation under various statutes, comprising nearly 13,900 properties that are either wholly or partially exempt. Of this, over 25% represents property owned by the State of Oregon. The largest non-governmental exemptions are $475.5 million of property owned by Salem Hospital, and Willamette University property valued at $206.5 million. Additionally, over 13,300 properties are assessed at below-market rates, primarily due to farm and forest special assessment programs.
Mr. Rohlfing encourages property owners to promptly review their tax statement for accuracy of information, such as the correct ownership, mailing and location address. Taxes are due by November 16, 2015 because the usual November 15 deadline falls on the weekend.
Owners with questions, or who feel changes are needed, should contact the Assessor's Office at 503-588-5144. Those who disagree with the Real Market Value placed on their property are encouraged to request a review prior to filing an appeal. Once this review is completed, if the property owner still does not agree with the value placed on their property, instructions on the back of the tax statement describe how to appeal to the local Board of Property Tax Appeals.
