South Oregon Mail Tribune
The League of Oregon Cities is supporting a move to peg a home's property taxes to its market value — rather than its usually lower assessed value — whenever a home sells.The change would boost property taxes on many properties when they sell but also generate more revenue to pay for schools, police protection and other local services.
The league also wants property taxes pegged to real market values on new construction. Currently, countywide ratios are used to determine assessed values on new construction, according to the league. Statewide, the assessed value of property averages 74 percent of its real market value, according to data provided by the league. In Jackson County, the average is 77 percent, according to Chris Fick, a finance and taxation analyst with the league.
Seventeen states have passed property tax limitations similar to Oregon's, but 15 recalibrate property taxes at the time of sale to realign assessed and real market values.The Massachusetts-based Lincoln Institute on Land Policy found that the Oregon tax system has gone the furthest in breaking the link between assessed values and market values.
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