Senate Bill 181A would require certain institutions seeking a property tax exemption to file an information return with the county assessor stating the basis for the exemption claim in terms derived from Oregon case law.
This bill would be a critical improvement over the guess work that county assessors are forced into to determine whether a “literary, benevolent, charitable, or scientific institution” is legitimately self-labeled. County assessors need bright lines to make determinations on qualifications that have been historically murky, leading to different decisions in different counties.
SB 181A is part of a process that began last session to bring rationality statewide to granting of these exemptions.
As the bill moves through the Senate, the House Revenue Committee will be faced with a question of consequence: does the administrative
responsibilities and their costs to assessors exceed the constitutional prohibition against unfunded mandates imposed by the state on a county?
In its fiscal impact statement for SB 181A, the Legislative Fiscal Office decided that they did not. Polk County Assessor Doug Schmidt, doing
calculations for the Oregon Association of County Assessors, suspects that they do for his county and maybe other medium sized or small counties.
The constitutional threshold is not high: one-hundredth of one percent of the county’s annual budget. Consider Polk County – $65 million annual budget; 90 accounts to process at $102/account, or $9,180. The threshold for Polk County is $6,500.
Conversations continue as the bill heads for the House.
Contributed by: Gil Riddell | AOC Policy Director