It’s property tax time! Yay! November is Property Tax month and payments are due November 15th.  Portland homeowners will begin seeing taxes arriving in their mailboxes soon! And get ready because they probably have not declined like you hoped or assumed since property values have declined. This is a popular question/concern among new homeowners and even among those of us who have been a homeowner for awhile. Here’s why so many of us in Portland Oregon are confused.

In 1997, Oregon voters passed Measure 50, the intent and effect of Measure 50 was to provide, for both homeowners and county budgets, a degree of certainty and predictability to property taxes that would be largely immune to significant swing in real estate values.

As of the 1997-1998 tax years, a Maximum Assessed Value (MAV) was established for every property in Oregon. The MAV was established by subtracting 10% from 1995-1996 Real Market Value (RMV) of each property in the State. Measure 50 then dictated that the property tax is based on the lower of the RMV or the MAV and is then listed on the property tax statement as Assessed Value.

To achieve predictability and stability, Measure 50 then provided for a 3% increase in the MAV each year, so long as the RMV of the property remains greater than the MAV. So, while Real Market Values surged by double digits in the Portland Metropolitan Area during some of the years since the inception of Measure 50, property tax valuations could only increase by 3% in those years. Conversely, despite a drop in Real Market Values over the past four years, Real Market Values are still, in most cases, well ahead of MAV in most counties. The result being, most can expect to see the standard 3% increase in their property tax bills again this year.

It should also be noted the RMV is determined on January 1st of each year. Homeowner’s don’t receive their property tax statement until late October. In rapidly appreciating or declining markets, this lag time can also contribute to a homeowner’s perception that the Real Market Value listed on the statement is either too high or too low.

To learn more about property taxes go here
To see what the assessed value, market value and property taxes for your home or any home in the Portland area, plug in the address at www.portlandmaps.com