Tax certifications mailed in Columbia County

The South County Spotlight, Oct 15, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Columbia County Assessor, Sue Poling has certified the 2008-09 Columbia County Assessment and Tax Rolls, and over 28,000 property tax bills will be mailed this week to Columbia County property owners.

Most tax bills for typical rural residential properties in the Scappoose area decreased 1.19 percent.

Although most property owners can expect a predictable 3 percent increase in their property tax bill each year due to 1997’s Measure 50, there is another source of change. Whether a property owner's tax bill varies more than three percent is largely the result of changes in local option and bonded debt levy rates, which are not limited by Measure 50.

A total of more than $50 million in property taxes are being billed for the county, cities, schools and special districts. That amount is 1.11 percent less than was billed last year.

Countywide, the market value of all taxable property increased from $6.90 billion to $7.25 billion, an increase of 5 percent. The largest residential increase in market value, based on sales prior to Jan. 1, 2008 was Prescott, where vacant land values increased by 25 percent. Most of the remaining residential market values in the county increased by an average of 6 percent. However, property taxes are based on assessed values.

The total assessed value this year is $38,658,310.45 or 0.83 percent lower than last year. While most residential and commercial properties in the county will see a 3 percent increase in their assessed value,

the reason for the overall decrease is partly due to adjusting maximum assessed value for properties damaged in the flood last December.

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