By David Jennings
Convincing citizens to raise taxes is always a tough sell, especially during hard times in a poor rural area. In 2008 Coos County voters rejected a property tax increase to fund the jail and drug enforcement. The no vote was 74.03%. A measure on the same ballot to increase funding for public health also lost with a 68.13% no vote. Since this election the County Commissioners despite County budget problems have not asked citizens to increase taxes.
Beyond the specific local reasons voters reject taxes there is a general feeling that property taxes are unfair. Opinion surveys show public dislike of the property tax is a close second only to the federal income tax.
A report released in early November provides evidence that this dislike is well founded. This research paper is titled Reconstructing Oregon’s Frankentax: Improving the Equity, Financial Sustainability and Efficiency of Property Taxes. This paper is available on line at www.pdxcityclub.org. The report was produced by a group of experts on a committee of the Portland City Club.The reports lead writer is Steve Maser, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Management at Willamette University.
The City Club committee said “Like the creature in Mary Shelley’s novel, Oregon’s property tax, a Frankentax is slowly but surely wreaking havoc upon its creators and their communities in ways they may not yet realize”.
The Committee found “owners of properties with similar market values pay different amounts”. They discovered the burden of property taxes “fall more heavily on those with low income and that “residential property bears more of the burden then commercial property”. The report states the Property Tax system fails to maintain important local government services authorized by voters and “undermines local control”. The Committee found the issues they studied extraordinarily complex and said “experts and your committee could not answer significant questions about Oregon’s property tax system”.
The Committee reports that 199,318 properties in Oregon are exempt from paying all or some property taxes. The “Real Market Value” of these properties is $98.3 billion. According to the Committee “this includes public property with a real market value of $56.2 billion, social welfare (religious & nonprofit organizations) with a real market value of $22.9 billion, and other exempt properties (including businesses) with a real market value of $19.2 billion. The Committee also found that many other properties are partly exempt “including the state farm and forest land which are assessed at a fraction of their $1.5 billion market value”.
The Committee concluded that property tax exemptions created by the state are “like unfunded mandates” imposed on local governments. This includes exemptions to promote economic development. The Committee states “whether such “strategic” exemptions promote real economic development remains unclear. They might merely encourage jurisdictions to compete with each other”.
Exempt and under assessed property is unevenly distributed. This uneven distribution has a negative impact on much of Southwestern Oregon. Writing in the Oregonian on 12/22/2011 guest columnist Shane Jimerfield said “All private forested property in Josephine County is valued at $354 million, yet its assessed tax value is only $19 million.” This private forest land contributed only $14,000.00 to Josephine County government’s general fund. Josephine County has the lowest property tax rate among Oregon’s 36 County Governments. Curry County is second and Coos County is third lowest.
In Coos County 29.7% of the land is owned by the state and federal governments and therefore exempt from property taxes. Writing in the World on 10/19/2013 Coquille writer Mary Geddry said “according to the Coos County Assessor 608,363 acres or 66% of the 920,350 acres of taxable land are undervalued for terms of property tax assessment.” She pointed out that 490,639 acres of private forest land “are assessed at less than $390 per acre regardless of how many millions of dollars worth of trees are standing on them.
In a separate post on her MGX blog Ms. Geddry states that Coos County’s private timber lands pay “less than $4.00 per acre in taxes”. She also suggests “compare this to your own property tax bill and see if you think it is fair”.
I think most citizens agree with the statement attributed to Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr. “Taxes are the price we pay for civilization”. However, civilization should include at least a minimally fair Tax System.
David Jennings worked for 28.5 years as a Juvenile Detention Counselor in the Coos County Juvenile Department. During his years with the County he also served in a variety of offices with the AFSCME Courthouse Union including President, Chief Steward and Bargaining Team member.
LOL My 100′ X 150′ piece of Coos County property costs me $4,600 a year in property tax. Whats wrong with this picture? Least they can do is give me a reach-around…
Well, I’m glad you don’t have character limits! Although that was just an abbreviated version of an epic rant I have stewing…:)
Keiser is the supreme user of every loophole available, and really shows what a true Chicago businessman can take from inept, dim-bulb Coos County governmental figures. We subsidize him through our taxes taken to pay for the useless airport, subsidize him with property & business tax-breaks and giveaways (more egregious than the timber companies), subsidize his employees on the Trail card (a large amount of his employees are living well below the poverty level so we have to make up the difference) to the tune of tens of millions (hundreds?) and he tosses around $10,000 checks to the locals and they get on their knees. Truly disgusting.
And the local rag has the audacity to publish a fluff piece where he says “shucks, I made a generous offer for your coastline and you guys really made me pay up! Grrr, you folks are tough!”. So “we” get a portion of a ranch in Grant County, he gives the state money to buy property in Depoe Bay and he’ll toss in a little scratch for gorse removal – and he “only gets” a couple hundred more acres of our lovely coastline – who got the good deal here? Where is this “portion of a ranch in Grant County” where I can go and hike & walk my dog? Who the hell cares if property is bought in Depoe Bay? $300k for gorse removal?? We got royally screwed, again, by this shady, corrupt man and he takes yet another chunk of our coastline.
Too bad we the people have absolutely NO ONE representing us, and I’m pretty sure our Commissioners, City Council & Mayor and all other small beans gave it up to him for cheap…free golf for life…Mexican vacation…you know, things that are worth the tens of millions he takes from us every year. Look at the land holdings of Bandon Biota and Bandon Dunes. They own most of our coastline already. We do not need another course, but he’ll build that and start on another. He’ll get the dam he wants because Bandon city employees are vapid and then he’ll build another. Nothing like over-saturation of golf courses for the public to subsidize. The majority of his employees would have to work 3 days to be able to afford one round of golf, and people think these golf courses are a good thing?
Why doesn’t someone have the balls to say: There is a limited amount of Pacific coastline, and even less that resembles a Scottish-style course, and most of that happens to be in Coos County…so, you are going to pay up for the privilege of doing business here, you are going to pay a fair amount of taxes and pay your employees a fair wage. You are going to shoulder the cost of the airport since very few residents actually get to use it…in fact, you can take on the entire cost of running your personal airport – hell, rename it “Keiser Field” for all we care. We are tired of paying for your rich man’s folly. Sorry, “follies”.
Sigh, but no one with the power would ever do something noble or heroic like that. Might as well start calling it Keiser County.
Hey Salmonologist, tell us how you really feel! Great rant! All too true! Most, if not all of our elected officials are bred and trained to genuflect to anyone they perceive as successful. The fact that this success is subsidized by the little guy just doesn’t hit their consciousness
So the Tax Committee stated that property tax exemptions created by the state (including those to promote economic development) are “like unfunded mandates” imposed on local governments.
This doesn’t sound entirely fair because (unless the forest tax advantages count as “economic development”) the state does not IMPOSE the ecodevo gimmicks on the local jurisdictions. Enterprise Zones, for instance, are enabled by State law, but have to be approved by local governments. But, as a result of local governments’ unlimited tendency to bow and scrape to any and all “development” that comes along, virtually every piece of commercial real estate in Coos county is in an enterprise zone.
This in itself amply validates the Committee’s doubts that such gimmicks promote real economic development. And it was illustrated with awesome clarity by the after-the-fact extension of the Bandon Enterprise Zone to include the Bandon Dunes golf courses. As much as I consider the
goldgolf courses wonderful developments, nobody had the nerve to claim they wouldn’t have happened without that needless give-away. The same was true of ORC. In practice, Enterprise Zones seem to serve the interests of the local ecodevo mafia who can bestow undeserved favors to keep their own jobs; understandably, the recipients of their largesse will support them.In summary, it seems closer to the truth to say that with these tax-exemptions the County is shooting itself in the foot. And they will keep doing it until the enabling legislation is repealed. But I won’t hold my breath waiting for that. As the magician who needs his smoke and mirrors and rabbits in the hat, the ecodevo bureaucrats need their “professional tools”.