Tax amounts are not limited to a 3% increase from one year to the next. The Maximum Assessed Value is the only place where a 3% limit applies.

Tax amounts may increase more than 3% due to

• changes in the tax rate for your Levy Code Area

• loss of compression savings,

• an exception event

• combination of any or all of these reasons.

• If your tax lot is split by multiple taxing code areas, you will receive one statement for each code.
• Similarly, personal property and utility property may reside in multiple taxing code areas.
• If you own both a manufactured structure and the land on which it is resides, but the names are not identical.

You can look up  your property tax information by clicking--->  Property Look-up.

Property tax statements will be mailed no later than October 25th. If you have not received your statement by November 1, You can check your online statement by clicking Pay Your Property Taxes Online; Search by name, and click the PDF downloadable file to see your most recent tax statement OR you can call our office at 541-278-6219.

• You had taxable business personal property in your possession in Umatilla County on January 1.
• Taxable personal property includes machinery, equipment, furniture, etc. used previously or presently in a business. This includes any property not currently being used, placed in storage, or held for sale.

• The total tax levied on personal property becomes delinquent whenever any installment is not paid on or before the due date. The Tax Collector may send a notice of delinquency showing the total amount due, including interest, when any tax payment is not made.

If no payment is made in response to the delinquency notice, the Tax Collector must;

• Issue a property tax warrant (a lien and a fee will be applied to account).

If payment for warrant is not received, the Tax Collector may:

• Seize and sell your property
• Attach a lien to your real property
• Garnish your bank account(s)

A Green statement indicates that no lender has requested information and the property owner is responsible for paying the bill.

A Yellow statement indicates a lender has requested your information and will be making your payment.

Taxpayers are urged to check with their mortgage company if they believe their current arrangement is not reflected by the color of the tax statement. This has been an area of confusion in the past years.

Important Dates-

• Late payments lose the discount, and the tax begins accruing interest after the due date.
• In Oregon, property is valued each year as of January 1.
• The fiscal tax year runs from July 1 through June 30.
• Property taxes are mailed no later than October 25 and payment is due November 15.  The dates at the top of your statement reflect the fiscal tax year for the property taxes imposed.

Roll Type- 

The property "roll type" is printed at the top of the statement. You will see one of the following descriptions: "Real Property", "Manufactured Structure", "Utility", or "Personal Property". 

Property Description-Identifies certain characteristics of your property (when applicable) by:

• Code:  Tax levy code that defines the list of taxing districts for your property.
• Map:  Represents the location of your property by township, range, section and tax lot as per the Assessors' Maps.
• Situs: The physical address of the property
• Account No:  Property Tax Account number. 

Current Tax Year Detail-

Your tax statement shows the taxes collected for each of the districts in which your property is located. Each district collects a permanent tax rate for ongoing services, plus any additional taxes that may be approved by the voters.  These taxes are shown on your statement as Local Option Levies (LOL) or Bond Levies.

• A. Educational Taxes:  Assessed for Blue Mountain Community College, your property's Educational Service District and K-12 school district.
• B. General Government Taxes: Paid to cities, regional government, county and special districts (water, sewer, fire, etc).
• C. Bond Taxes: Finance capital improvements such as school buildings, parks, or public works projects that have been authorized by voters.

Values-

• Real Market Value (RMV) is the amount in cash that could reasonably be expected to be paid by an informed buyer to an informed seller.
• Assessed Value (AV) is the total (combined land and structures) amount of value used to impose property taxes. If you are currently receiving a Veteran's Exemption, it will be noted in this section.
• Delinquent Taxes Any prior year's tax remaining unpaid will be listed just above your current year total tax due on the front, right hand side of the statement. Delinquent amounts that will be subject to foreclosure, if not paid by May 15 the following year, will be indicated with an asterisk (*). Payments will be applied to the oldest tax year first.

Real Market Value (RMV) is typically the price your property would sell for in a transaction between a willing buyer and a willing seller on January 1, the assessment date for the tax year.

To estimate the initial RMV for your property, your county assessor appraises your property using a physical inspection and a comparison of market data from similar properties. For ensuing tax years, your county assessor may study trends of similar properties to update the RMV for your property.

Assessed Value (AV) is the lower of last year’s Maximum Assessed Value (MAV) plus 3%, or the current Real Market Value (RMV). This value provides the baseline for your tax bill calculation.

Maximum Assessed Value (MAV) was established by Ballot Measure 50 for the 1997-98 tax year. MAV is the greater of 103% of the prior year's assessed value (AV), or 100% of the prior year's MAV, whichever is greater.

MAV’s for properties that existed prior to 1995 were set based on the 1995-1996 Real Market Value (RMV) less 10%. MAVs for “new” properties (constructed or created after 1995) are set by multiplying the property's Real Market Value (RMV) at the time of construction or creation by the Changed Property Ratio (CPR) for that year.

MAV is the only part of your tax bill where a 3% increase limit applies. However, your MAV can increase above 3 percent of the prior year's assessed value if certain things defined as exceptions are made to your property.

Maximum assessed value does not appear on your tax statement.

Two calculations are performed each year to determine your property tax amount. Your tax bill is always the lower of these two amounts:

1. Your Assessed Value is multiplied by the tax rate for your code area, and any Special Assessments are added.
2. Your Real Market Value is multiplied by the Measure 5 limits of $5 per $1000 for Education taxes (or .005 x RMV) and $10 per $1000 for General Government taxes (or .010 x RMV).  This amount is then added to the amount for items that are excluded from the Measure 5 limits.

Ballot Measure 50 limits MAV increases to 3% per year except under certain circumstances including, but not limited to:

• New Construction/Additions of more than $10,000 in one year or $25,000 over 5 years
• Remodel or significant rehabilitation of more than $10,000 in one year or $25,000 over 5 years
• Partitioning or subdivision
• Rezoning (where the property is used consistently with the new zoning)
• Discovery of omitted Property
• Disqualification from exemption or special assessment

In these cases, the Assessor appraises the property to determine how much Real Market Value was added by the change(s) to the property.

General ongoing maintenance and repair--such as replacing a roof with a new roof made with the same quality materials as the original roof--do not qualify as Exception events.