Property Assessment

Important Property Tax Information - Portland Oregon Metro Area

 

 

Greater Portland Property Assessment Update - November 2015

Property Assessment Update is an occasional service to corporate asset managers, accountants and finance officers, independent certified public accountants, property managers and tax agents, and membership organizations.

• November 2 Clackamas County, Oregon, Appraisal plan due to Oregon Department of Revenue (ODOR)
• November 16 Clackamas County, Oregon, first trimester tax payment due for 2015-2016 year
• November 16 Columbia County, Oregon, first payment due for 2015-2016 year
• November 16 Washington County, Oregon, first tax payment due for 2015-2016 year
• November 17 Multnomah County, Oregon, first payment due for 2015-2016 year
• Property Tax Appeals in Oregon: A property owner can appeal the valuation of the property to the local Board of Property Tax Appeals. Petitions to the board must be filed between late October, when the tax statements are mailed, and December 31

No property assessment news to report for Clark County, Washington, and Skamania County, Washington, for this month.

For additional information for those who own or manage properties in the Portland Metropolitan Area, each of the seven counties that make up this area are listed below for your convenience. (As defined by the U. S. Office of Management and Budget as the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Also known as the Portland Metropolitan Area or Greater Portland.)

Greater Portland Metropolitan Area Property Tax Assessment Offices

Clackamas County, Oregon, Assessment & Taxation

Department website: http://www.clackamas.us/at/

Clark County, Washington, Department of Assessment

Department website: http://www.clark.wa.gov/assessor/index.html

Columbia County, Oregon, Assessment & Taxation

Department website: http://www.co.columbia.or.us/departments/assessors-office/assessors-home

Multnomah County, Oregon, Division of Assessment, Recording & Taxation (DART)

Department website: http://web.multco.us/assessment-taxation

Skamania County, Washington, County Assessor’s Office

Department website: http://www.skamaniacounty.org/assessor/

Washington County, Oregon, Assessment & Taxation

Department website: http://www.co.washington.or.us/AssessmentTaxation/index.cfm

Yamhill County, Oregon, Assessment & Taxation

Department website: http://www.co.yamhill.or.us/assessor

Go Direct

Why Local Property Taxes Are So Tricky

One word of advice. Call your local assessor about property tax concerns. I love real estate professionals, but real estate tax assessments are just too important (one of the largest annual expenses after mortgage payments) to get second-hand information. When more than half are first-time home buyers and many may have moved from another assessment jurisdiction or state, many buyers are in need of assistance.

In some states, like Florida, foreign buyers are taking advantage of changes in the global economy and are in need of real estate tax advice. And small and medium sized business start-ups are taking place every day, often without fully investigating local property tax consequences.

Local assessors aren't trying to be evasive, each has their own mandates, which includes having an active public relations program, it's just a fact that there are inconsistencies.

• Inconsistencies in the effective date of value estimates for assessment and tax purposes
• Inconsistencies in when assessment notices are mailed to property owners
• Inconsistencies in when tax abatement, deferral, exemption, and incentive applications are due
• Inconsistencies in when income and expense statements or personal property declarations are due
• Inconsistencies in appeal deadlines

Granted there are some real estate professionals and property tax services (corporate tax managers and independent professional property tax firms come to mind) that make it their business to know about local tax assessments and work closely with their local assessors, these are the exceptions.

Call your local assessor. Once you have talked with the assessor you may have additional questions and concerns that other professional services can help you with. But start there. You'll be glad you did. And if you are not (unfortunately not all local assessors are successful in implementing their public relations programs), you will at least have background information to consider before approaching others for help.

Who Says You Can't Help City Hall

Collaborative Efforts Result in Win-Win Situation

We just completed a collaborative project with the seven counties that make up the Greater Portland Oregon Metropolitan Area and local real estate industry experts.  Since April 29 we have worked together on a list of government agency contacts who have important information that is used routinely by:

• Academics
• Asset managers
• Attorneys
• Builders
• Business owners
• Citizens
• Corporate tax managers
• Engineers
• Homeowners
• Insurance companies
• Potential homebuyers
• Real and personal property Appraisers
• Real estate brokers and agents
• Real estate investors
• Surveyors
• Tax agents and representatives
• Title insurance companies

A draft list was prepared early this year that followed the same theme used for a contact list for local government agencies in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area. The DC contact list was so popular with real estate professionals that we hope to repeat that success in Portland.

The draft list was then sent to all the affected local government agencies and departments, and they were asked for changes, comments, and general feedback during a 10 working day period.  After the agencies had a chance to collaborate, the draft contact list was distributed via social media to thousands of real estate professionals.

People in local government agencies and departments who are the curators of the following categories of real estate information for the Greater Portland Metropolitan Area are featured:

• Maps and/or Geographic Information System (GIS) data
• Personal property assessment information (assessed values, appeal procedures, and compliance information)
• Real estate assessment information (assessed values, appeal procedures, compliance information, and property specific data characteristics)
• Recordation information
• Tax billing information and property tax payment look up

The completed contact list is now available.  We are sure that this free publication will be a help to homebuyers, real estate professionals, and local governments who don't always have the staff to answer questions from callers.  The contact list is available by clicking here or by e-mailing me at [email protected] and including Portland OR MSA Guide in the subject line.

Collaborative Effort to Help Community of Practice in Portland Oregon

 

Those Who Use the Tools are the Best People to Ask Whether They Are Working

If you are in the Greater Portland (Oregon) area we need your help. We've just outlined a contact list for local government departments in the Greater Portland area who are the curators for real estate information most actively used by asset managers, attorneys, corporate tax mangers, homeowners, insurance companies, lenders, potential buyers, real estate agents and brokers, surveyors - you get the picture.

We are asking the community to give us feedback on what's missing, what can be cut out, how it could be better organized - basically, we want to produce a free information product that's designed by the client, not someone deciding what's best for the client.

If you would like to collaborate with us, click here to access the draft PDF document and let us know what you think. You can comment here on our blog or by contacting me through other social media that is shown in my blog profile.  If you reply via Twitter, please use the hashtag #PortlandREInfo.

Once we complete this project, keep the contact list handy so that you don't need to search the web each time you want to find real estate information from local government sources in Greater Portland. They will all be in one spot where you can access them or easily copy and paste them into an e-mail to a potential client.

You will also be able post this resource on your website.  All we'll ask is that you refer to the primary author and his web address as the source.

Timing of Real Estate Market Trends Matter

By Guest Author Stephen K. Hachey

For some people, understanding their property taxes can be very difficult. This article explains some of the more frustrating aspects of the property tax statement.

In Hillsborough County, Florida, property taxes are paid for the previous year, rather than in advance for the coming year. The TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice is sent out in late August to show the proposed property taxes. The TRIM notice shows you the assessed value of the property plus the millage rate for the taxing entities.

Millage rates are the amount per $1,000 dollars that is used to calculate taxes on property. The expressed millage rate is multiplied by the total assessed value of the property to arrive at the property taxes due. The millage rate on the TRIM notice will show any proposed changes, which are voted on by the taxing entities in mid September, as well as the rate should the changes not be accepted.

Many people become upset when they believe that the assessed value of their property is too high, causing their property taxes to be higher than what they believe is fair. The assessed value of the property is based on sales data from the previous year, and with taxes being paid in arrears, the values used to pay the taxes are almost two years old by the time taxes are paid. 

For example, the TRIM notice that you received in August 2012 affected the real estate taxes that you paid to Hillsborough County by the March 31, 2013, deadline. However, the assessed value for your property had an effective date for valuation by the county property appraisers' office of January 1, 2012. And in estimating values for the 2012 assessments the county studied real estate market data and trends during 2011.

Although the time delay between market data, assessments, and when taxes are paid may seem unfair, for most people the assessed taxes work out fairly in the end, because the same system is used year after year to assess values. So, for example, the value of your home may go up this year, but your taxes will not go up right away, as the sales data used to assess that value is from the previous year. 

For those who feel that the value of their home is not low enough, they can contact the Hillsborough County Tax Appraiser at 813-272-6100 or by email at [email protected]. If you do decide to call, make sure that you are prepared with good comparable data for your area. Also, don't worry if you feel the assessed value of your home is too low. The Save Our Homes law in Florida keeps the assessed value of a home from increasing more than 3%, or the amount of the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever amount is lower. This keeps the assessed value of your home from going up drastically.

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of Hillsborough County property taxes, and you can read your TRIM notice this year with a little less confusion or frustration.

This post was written for Property Assessment by Stephen K. Hachey. Stephen is a Tampa Foreclosure Lawyer specializing in loan modifications, short sales, foreclosure and much more. He is also the owner of his own practice, the Law Offices of Stephen Hachey, PA. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Please contact a licensed attorney in your state of residence. For more information on Stephen's services, please visit his website at www.floridarealestatelawyer.org/.