Property tax increase hearing (SB 712)

Senate Bill 712 raises property taxes
By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

There was a property tax bill hearing this week on Senate Bill 712.  This Senate Bill 712 pushes more property owners to pay the maximum 3% tax increase every year based on maximum assessed value.   This will cost some property owners thousands.

The laws limiting how much value of your property can be taxed (Measure 50) was secured into the State Constitution by voters and require voters to make changes.   Promoters of this Senate Bill 712 property tax increase say that this tax increase is an adjustment on what is taxed, and therefore, in their explanation, does not need to involve voter approval.  Under this, the bill would not require a super-majority 60% vote in the House and Senate (another Constitutional rule for all tax increases).   This bill would then be easier for lawmakers to pass with a simple 51% vote threshold.

Even though this bill is claimed not to be a legal tax increase, it will indeed bring in tens of millions in higher property taxes.

Here is the testimony Taxpayers Association submitted to the hearing on the property tax increase Senate Bill 712:

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[START TESTIMONY]

Taxpayers Association of Oregon urges No on SB 712

It is unfair to raise property taxes …

⊗ during our affordable housing crisis
⊗ when we rank the top 5 most expensive cost-of-living states
⊗  when utility prices jumped 40% since 2021
⊗ when gas taxes rose 5%, DMV fees +50% last year alone
⊗ when local governments raised a billion in new property taxes last year!

At the same time, local governments are abusing our property tax dollars…

• our property tax dollars being lost by the hundreds of millions to urban renewal projects that mostly benefit private businesses?

• Tens of millions of property tax dollars spent buying vacant land (for unused public purposes) making affordable housing crisis worse while taking property revenue off the tax rolls

•Local governments tax dollars spent on building $100 million dollar bridges that don’t allow cars?

[END TESTIMONY]

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Senate Bill 712 official summary, “Requires the maximum assessed value of a property to increase by three percent per year. Applies to property tax years 2026-27 and after.”

Senate Bill 712 official background explanation, “M50 fundamentally changed Oregon’s property tax from a levy-based system to a rate-based system, reduced the 1997-98 assessed value (AV) of a property to 90 percent of the 1995-96 AV, and capped future growth in the maximum assessed value (MAV) of a property at three percent per year. The implication of the MAV is that the AV and the associated tax bill grow at three percent per year in most situations. However, during an economic downturn the AV of a property can decrease or increase by less than three percent a year. Furthermore, the AV of a property can increase by more than three percent a year during the recovery from an economic downturn.”

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