Lower Home Prices Does Not Mean Lower Property Taxes

Tax bills won't drop for most property owners, even as home values slide in the worsening economy.

"It might be a rude awakening for folks," said Tom Linhares, executive director of the Multnomah County Tax Supervision and Conservation Commission.

The explanation can be found in Oregon's property tax limits, particularly Measure 50, adopted by voters in 1997.

The measure divorced property taxes from market value, setting the assessed value of properties at their 1995 value, less 10 percent. The assessed value can increase 3 percent a year, plus new construction. Property owners pay based on the assessed value or the market value, whichever is smaller.

As Oregon homeowners watched their property values climb rapidly during the past decade, boosting their net worth and borrowing power, their property taxes didn't keep pace, rising only modestly.

"Now, they don't get a break as they fall," Linhares said. "It's the other side of the coin."

To read more click here: Something stable in the economy: Oregon property taxes; Oregonlive.com