Lane County taxpayers will receive their 2015–2016 property tax statements beginning on Monday, October 19, 2015. Tax statements and other property tax information are also available online at Lane County. The first payment is due on Monday, November 16, 2015.  

The Lane County tax collector collects property tax on behalf of 83 separate taxing districts, including cities, schools, education service districts, water districts, rural fire districts, urban renewal districts and other taxing districts such as park and recreation, library and ambulance districts.

The total property tax certified to collect for all tax levies combined in 2015 is $478 million. This is approximately 3.1 percent more than in 2014. The total amount of taxes billed changes each year as a result of the addition of new or renewed local option and bond levies, the expiration of local option and bond levies, the 3 percent statutory increase in Maximum Assessed Values (MAV), the addition of new properties to the tax roll, the number of exemptions granted and the number of properties being taxed on their lower market values instead of their Measure 50 MAV.

Lane County’s January 1, 2015 Real Market Value (RMV) increased to $50.8 billion from $48.9 billion. This is an overall increase of approximately 4 percent from January 1, 2014.

The total taxable value for all properties combined in Lane County increased by 4.5 percent over last year, from $29.2 billion in 2014 to $30.5 billion in 2015. This change reflects a 78 percent increase in new construction activity ($702.8 million for 2015 over $395 million in the previous year).  Additionally, 9.6 percent of residential properties in Lane County now have a market value below their Measure 50 MAV which is down from 14 percent in 2014.  

Most properties will continue to see the 3 percent statutory increase in their MAV. On average, residential property owners will pay tax on 80 percent of their homes’ RMV in 2015.

Oregon’s constitution limits the increase in MAV of each property to 3 percent per year, unless there have been changes made to the property. The most common reasons a property’s Assessed Value (AV) grows more than 3 percent is new construction or additions, new partitions or subdivisions, removal from special assessment or exemption programs, or changes in zoning and use of the property.

There are over 177,000 taxable properties in Lane County consisting of: 66 percent Residential/Tract; 12 percent Commercial; 7 percent Industrial; 5 percent Farm/Forest; 5 percent Multi-Family; and 5 percent Business Personal Property, Utilities and Other.

Property values for tax purposes are set only once a year at the time of certification.  Certification occurred for the 2015–2016 tax roll on October 5, 2015. Oregon does not reset property values at the time of sale as in California, nor does it reset property values for tax purposes at the time of a refinanced loan.

The 2015 tax statement reflects your property’s RMV as of January 1, 2015. This is based on the sales activity of the 2014 RMV in which Lane County showed an overall median increase of 4.25 percent for a typical house value.

An individual property’s market value change varies due to many factors including the general real estate market, property location and changes made to the property such as new additions, remodels, or demolition. 

The change in tax an individual property owner will see depends on the area the property is located. Voters in the past year have approved changes to the tax levies and bond rates which are then applied to a property’s AV. However Oregon’s constitution limits the total tax rate that can be billed to an individual property to no more than $10 per $1,000 of market value for government and $5 per $1,000 of market value for schools (Ballot Measure 5). The limits do not apply to bonds.

If a taxpayer believes his or her property’s market value is incorrect, the taxpayer should contact the Lane County Assessor’s Office. Taxpayers have the right to appeal to the Board of Property Tax Appeals through the Deeds and Records division of the County Clerk’s Office. The Board of County Commissioners has the authority to reduce market value when sufficient evidence is provided to demonstrate the RMV of a property was different on January 1, 2015 than what is on the tax statement. If RMV is still higher than AV, the tax payment will likely remain the same. A reduction to your value does not always result in a refund. The Board cannot grant reductions to a tax amount; it can only review a property’s value.

All appeals must be filed with the Lane County Deeds and Records office by December 31, 2015.

Changes to levies for the 2015-16 tax year:

New Voter-Approved Tax Levies

• Marcola School District approved a $7.82 million bond levy to replace the existing elementary school.
• Springfield School District passed a $71.5 million bond measure to provide energy efficiency upgrades to Guy Lee Elementary and Thurston High School; replace Hamlin Middle School and add elementary classroom space; make technology infrastructure improvements and safety and security upgrades throughout the district; and work on seismic and energy efficiency projects.

Voter-Approved Levy Renewals

• Santa Clara Fire District renewed its local option but at the lower rate of $0.45 per $1,000 AV.
• Rainbow Water & Fire District renewed its local option for 4 more years.
• Eugene School District renewed its 5-year local option. 
• Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District renewed its local option levy for 5 more years.

• Lane County Bond (for construction of the Juvenile Justice Center)
• Springfield School District Bond 1
• City of Oakridge Bond
• City of Springfield Bond 1
• Junction City Rural Fire Protection District Bond 1
• River Road Park and Rec District Bond

Click here to download a copy of the property tax insert that will be mailed with each tax statement. The insert has additional information on payments, the location of payment drop boxes, appeals, and other services provided by the Department of Assessment and Taxation.

Click here to view the median assessed value and tax rates for different areas of the county and click here to view the real market value and percent change between 2014 and 2015.