Reading Your Clatsop County Property Tax Statement: Measure 50, Due Dates and Discounts

Photo: Visitor7 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Every fall, Clatsop County property owners get their property tax statements for the fiscal year that began July 1. The statement can be confusing, especially when it says your home’s market value went down but your taxes went up. Here’s how to read it.

Two values on your statement

Real market value (RMV) is the assessor’s estimate of what your property would sell for as of January 1.
Assessed value (AV) is the value your taxes are actually based on. Under Measure 50, approved by Oregon voters in 1997, assessed value generally can’t grow by more than 3% a year. The exceptions are new construction, major improvements, rezoning or similar changes. Assessed value also can’t be higher than real market value.

Market values in most of Oregon have risen faster than 3% a year over the long run, so many homes have an assessed value well below their market value. As a result, your assessed value, and your taxes, can keep going up 3% a year even in a year when market values fall, as long as assessed value stays below market value.

The Measure 5 limits

Measure 5, passed in 1990, caps taxes on each property at $5 per $1,000 of real market value for schools and $10 per $1,000 for general government. If a property’s taxes would exceed those limits, they are reduced, a process called compression. Local option levies are compressed first. Bonds approved by voters are not subject to these limits.

What your taxes pay for

Your statement lists each taxing district that levies on your property. That can include the county, your city, school district, community college, fire district, port, library or parks district, and any bonds or local option levies voters approved. Rates differ depending on where in the county the property sits.

Due dates and discounts

Oregon statements are mailed in late October, and payments are due November 15. You can pay in three ways:

Pay in full by November 15 and receive a 3% discount.
Pay two-thirds by November 15 and receive a 2% discount, with the rest due by May 15.
Pay in thirds, due November 15, February 15 and May 15, with no discount.

Late payments accrue interest. If your taxes are paid through a mortgage escrow account, your lender typically pays the full amount to get the discount. Check your statement to confirm.

If you disagree with your value

If you think the real market value on your statement is too high, you can appeal to the county Board of Property Tax Appeals. The deadline is generally December 31 of the year the statement is mailed. Gather evidence such as recent comparable sales or an appraisal. In many cases, lowering RMV won’t lower your tax unless your RMV drops below your assessed value.

Help for some homeowners

Oregon offers property tax deferral programs for qualifying seniors and people with disabilities, and exemptions for some disabled veterans and their surviving spouses. Applications go through the county assessor, and deadlines apply.

Where to go: The Clatsop County Assessment & Taxation office in Astoria handles values, statements and payments. Its website has a property lookup and online payment. The Oregon Department of Revenue publishes plain-language guides to the tax system.

Sources: Oregon Department of Revenue, property tax publications; Clatsop County Assessment & Taxation; Oregon Constitution, Article XI, Sections 11 (Measure 50) and 11b (Measure 5).