FAQ
General FAQs
Complete the Change of Address form located on our forms page and return to the Assessor's Office.
See our Contact page for office hours and directions.
Complete the Change of Address form located on our forms page and return to the Assessor's Office.
Oregon laws provide a property tax exemption for property owned or being purchased by certain qualifying non-profit 501-C organizations. For more information, see Tax Exemptions.
See our Contact page for office hours and directions.
Yes. If you disagree with the value of your property on your statement you may appeal to the Board of Property Tax Appeals. Forms are available from the County Clerk’s office or online on the Clerk Department’s site. More information is on the back of your tax statement.
If you believe your value may be incorrect or you were charged a late filing penalty in error, contact our office at 541-774-6094. The Assessor’s Office can correct errors up to December 31. Between October 25 and December 31 you may also contact the County Clerk’s Office to file an appeal with the Board of Property Tax Appeals (BOPTA).
Any business open on January 1 and in possession of taxable personal property, on that date, is assessed and taxed for the entire fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, regardless of any change of ownership or closure of the business (ORS 308.290, 311.410). Taxes are a lien against the personal property as of July 1 per ORS 311.405 (b). For example, a business open on January 1, 2014 would be assessed and taxed for the entire fiscal year of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. The seller and the buyer should notify the Assessor’s Office of the change of ownership. Please contact our office for further instructions and information 541-774-6094.
Business Personal Property
Personal property is equipment, furniture and fixtures used presently or previously in a business.OAR150-307-0030(4) defines personal property as movable machinery, movable tools and movable equipment, it includes items readily movable as opposed to apparently stationary or fixed items.
Per ORS 308.290, every person and the managing agent or officer of any business, firm, corporation or association owning, or having in possession or under control taxable personal property shall make a return by March 15, of the property for ad valorem tax purposes to the assessor of the county in which the property has its situs for taxation.
If you were assessed last year, as a convenience to you, the county Assessor may mail you a form prior to January 1. If you do not receive a form from the Assessor you are still obligated to obtain and file a personal property return by March 15. If you need help completing your personal property return or have any other questions not addressed in this text, please call our office at 541-774-6094.
The information filed on the Personal Property return is Confidential, we will only be able to share information with you if you provide your fax number and/or email address on the Confidential Personal Property Return.
Personal Property Returns are mailed on or before December 31 each year. If you have not received your return by the end of the second week in January, contact us at 541-774-6094 and verify your mailing address. If you don’t receive a return, it doesn’t relieve your responsibility to file.
If you have never filed a Confidential Personal Property Return or are a new business owner, see “Department of Revenue Links” on our Business Personal Property information page.
For other information and instructions regarding your Confidential Personal Property Return please download a copy of our “Information Relating to the Enclosed Personal Property Return” letter.
Please contact our office at 541-774-6094 and we will send you a return.
Your Personal Property Return must show all taxable personal property which you own, possess, or control as of 1:00 a.m., January 1 (ORS 308.250).
You should file your Personal Property Return on or before March 15 (ORS 308.290). Per new legislation, effective January 2016, no Business Personal Property Extensions are allowed. Filing date has been extended from March 1st to March 15th.
If the return is filed after March 15, but before June 1, the penalty is 5 percent of the tax owed. The penalty increases to 25 percent of the tax owed if the return is filed after June 1, but on or before August 1. After August 1, the penalty applied is 50 percent of the tax owed (ORS.308.296).
ORS308.290)3)(a) Each return of personal property shall contain a full listing of the property and a statement of its real market value, including a separate listing of those items claimed to be exempt as imports or exports. Most businesses of any type will have a phone so that people may contact them.If you don’t have a phone please tell us why. If you report assets without purchase years, model years or cost information a value will be estimated from our best available information. Which can include other like type items on your account, like type items from other similar businesses, or an estimate found through researching the asset value. Should you fail to report assets that the Assessor’s office have found to be in your possession we may place an estimate of value on them and you will be taxed accordingly.
Yes, leased or rented property must be reported by BOTH the lessor & the lessee. The lease agreement determines which party will be paying the property taxes to the county. Should each party report the leased asset and the designation of who is to pay the taxes is different on each report, Jackson County will follow the instruction on the lessor return.ORS308.105(2) Personal property may be assessed in the name of the owner or of any person having possession or control thereof. Where two or more persons jointly are in possession or have control of any personal property, in trust or otherwise, it may be assessed to any one or all of such persons. You may be asked to provide a copy of the lease agreement if there is a dispute regarding the payment of the taxes.
Please review the leased assets on your account and let us know if you are still leasing them or no longer have them. Also check the end of your owned asset list for any assets that may have been moved from leased assets to owned assets last year. If the lessor reports that they are no longer leasing an asset to you but gives no further information and you do not provide any information the asset will be moved to your owned equipment list and you will be taxed for it.
You may amend your Personal Property Return at any time before the values are certified to the tax roll the first of October.
If you would like to receive notice of your valuation prior to the tax roll being certified, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope that is large enough to return the information to you and a note requesting your work papers. After we have processed your return we will then send you a copy of the work papers. You will be charged a fee for sending them and for the copy if you do not provide a SASE.
If you believe your value may be incorrect or you were charged a late filing penalty in error, contact our office at 541-774-6094. The Assessor’s Office can correct errors up to December 31. Between October 25 and December 31 you may also contact the County Clerk’s Office to file an appeal with the Board of Property Tax Appeals (BOPTA).
If you have sold, closed or moved your business out of Jackson County prior to January 1, please complete the appropriate section of the No personal property to report box on the front of the Confidential Personal Property Return (CPPR), see general information no. 3 on the General Information sheet included with your CPPR.If you do not complete this box and return the form to our office the account may remain in your name and you will likely be assessed a tax in the fall.
Any business open on January 1 and in possession of taxable personal property, on that date, is assessed and taxed for the entire fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, regardless of any change of ownership or closure of the business (ORS 308.290, 311.410). Taxes are a lien against the personal property as of July 1 per ORS 311.405 (b). For example, a business open on January 1, 2014 would be assessed and taxed for the entire fiscal year of July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. The seller and the buyer should notify the Assessor’s Office of the change of ownership. Please contact our office for further instructions and information 541-774-6094.
E-filing Business Personal Property Returns
Your user name is your Business Personal Property account number.
Your PIN # will be mailed to the address that we have on file for you on your personal property account.
Please contact our office at 541-774-6094
The current list of assets on your account will be viewable under each schedule of the return as long as the total number of assets on your account is below 250. This limit is currently in place to keep the page load time down.
After submitting you will have the option of saving your return for your records.
No, your e-filing will be used by the assessor to calculate the Real Market and Assessed Value. If you would like a copy of your work papers after we have processed your filing please mail us a self-addressed stamped envelope with a note requesting the information.
No, the first time that you file you will need to do so by completing the paper Confidential Personal Property Return.
A compatible browser is required. Chrome, Safari (Mac only), Firefox 10 and higher, Internet Explorer 7 and higher or Opera. For attachments, use Microsoft Excel 2007 or higher.
We prefer to receive the electronic asset listing as an Excel file. We highly recommend that you use the templates available on our website when preparing your asset listings. If you wish to submit your signed paper return, please have the document scanned into PDF format and upload that image along with the Excel asset listing file.
Farm / Forest
FARM: Land currently being used in various farming practices for the primary purpose of obtaining a profit in money, can often qualify for Farm Special Assessment which lowers the taxable value of the qualified portions. The rules guiding the special assessment of farm property are dependent upon whether the property is in an Exclusive Farm-use zone or is not in an Exclusive Farm-use zone. As such, the explanation of the program is broken down into these two categories.
FOREST: Land being held or used for the predominant purpose of growing and harvesting trees of a marketable species can often qualify for Forest Special Assessment which lowers the taxable value of the qualified portions.
EFU is a zoning category, and rarely gets changed. Likely, your Farm Special Assessment was disqualified. Refer to the Oregon Department of Revenue Farm Assessment flyer for your property’s zoning (EFU or NON-EFU) for “What Land Qualifies.” For NON-EFU zoning, be sure to read the Gross Income Requirements as well.
In EFU zoning there is no specific dollar amount, however adequate use, primary purpose for profit, and income/sales documentation must be met.
In NON-EFU zoning, adequate use, primary purpose for profit, and documented minimum gross income levels must be met. (Refer to the NON-EFU Farm Assessment flyer)
1) Go to Property Data Online. Click on the account number of the selected property. This takes you to the account detail screen.
2) Click on Value Summary Detail. Only the segments identified as "FARM USE ZONED or UNZONED", "FARM SITE" and/or “SA OSD” have a lower assessed value as a result of the farm special assessment.
3) Look at the column with the heading "RMV". Add together the RMV of the “FARM USE ZONED or UNZONED”, “FARM SITE” and/or “SA OSD” segments and multiply by 0.85. Now add the "Max AV" of the same segments. From that, subtract that sum from the first calculated number. Divide the answer by 1,000. (Example: Total RMV of $100,000 X 85% =$85,000. Sum of Max AV= $5,000. The difference = $80,000. This divided by 1000 = 80).
4) Locate the tax rate (in the Tax Info box near the top) and multiply by the answer above. (Example: 80 X 12.4115 = $992.92 projected additional tax). FYI, this is only a ROUGH ESTIMATE.
Yes. When a property in an EFU zone that is no longer specially assessed but has a Potential Additional Tax $$$ Notation, in order to finalize Planning & Building Dept conditions, the Potential Additional Tax would need to be paid. The parcel would no longer be eligible for special assessment in the future. This would apply to new owners as well. If the property is currently in Special Assessment, it will need Disqualification, and the additional taxes paid.
Commercial / Industrial
The Assessor’s Office applies three approaches or three separate indications of value when determining commercial market value; cost approach, sales or market approach and income approach. These values are reconciled to arrive at a final value conclusion.
Cost Approach – the value of the land is determined first, then replacement cost of the buildings or improvements are added. Accrued depreciation is subtracted and the result is added to the land value.
Market Approach – sales of similar properties are analyzed to derive units of comparison such as price paid per square foot, or per rental unit, or per $1,000 of gross income. These are applied to the subject property to arrive at an indicated value.
Income Approach – based on the concept that the value of income producing property is directly related to the level of income which can be expected over their economic life. The economic rent for the property is estimated and expenses are deducted to derive an annual net income figure. Net operating income is converted to a value estimate by dividing the net income by a capitalization rate. This rate is derived by comparing net income by sales prices of comparable properties. This rate is then applied to the net income of the subject property to yield a value estimate.
Seldom do three approaches generate the same value. The final step is to reconcile the values developed under the three approaches. The relative merit of each value indication is considered and the values correlated to arrive at a final value determination.
Manufactured Structures
“Application for Reduction of Maximum Assessed Value of Demolished or Removed Buildings”, ORS 308.146(8). Complete form and contact Treasury and Taxation 541-774-6541
See Manufactured Homes Info or contact Treasury and Taxation 541-774-6541
See Manufactured Homes Info or contact Treasury and Taxation 541-774-6541
Residential
Contact our Front Counter 541-774-6059 or visit Property Data Online.
Assessed Value is the value subject to taxation. AV is the lesser of either the Real Market Value (RMV) or Maximum Assessed Value (MAV). RMV is the value that an informed buyer would pay for a property on January 1st of any given year. The MAV was either established in 1997 or is established when certain events in law trigger the establishment of MAV. For Example, new improvements are built on a property or land is subdivided. Once established, MAV grows by 3% annually.
There are three approaches to estimating market value; sales, cost and income approaches. In real property values for all types of properties, the Assessor keeps track of:
- What properties are selling for
- What it would cost today to replace them
- The costs to operate and repair them
- What rents they may earn
- Other factors that affect value
Contact the Assessor’s Office at 541-774-6059 to review your valuation with a Property Appraiser on staff.
Contact Treasury and Taxation 541-774-6541.
Cartography
Navigability
Oregon became a state on February 14, 1859. At that time the Federal government gave to the state all the submerged and submersible land on navigable waterways, to the line of ordinary high water. However, the government did not tell the state which of its waterways were navigable for title purposes.
In simple terms navigability means that the waterway can be navigated by a vessel for travel or commerce. Under the law, submerged and submersible land of a navigable waterway is owned by the state.
Submerged land is land that lies below the line of the ordinary low water line. The submersible land is land that lies between the ordinary high water line and the ordinary low water line.
The ordinary high water line is where the water ordinarily rises during a season. It is usually what we call the vegetation line.
The ordinary low water line is at the lowest point to which the water drops during the dry season.
The Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) is in the process of conducting a navigability study of the Rogue River from Grave Creek at River Mile (RM) 68.5 to Lost Creek Dam at RM 157.5. This navigability study is being conducted to determine if the evidence meets the requirements of the Federal Test for Navigability. Ultimately the State Land Board will develop an official state position concerning the Rogue River's navigability status in all, or part of the study area.
At the time of statehood (February 14, 1859), was the waterway used or susceptible to use, in its ordinary and natural condition, as a highway of commerce, for trade and travel, by a mode of transportation that was customary in 1859.
The Assessor's Office maps land according to the legal description (as stated on the deed) of the property the owners purchased. If the legal description calls to the center of the river, the Assessor's Office maps the property to the center of the river.
With the aid of GIS (Geographic Information System), digital mapping, and newer aerials, the Assessor's Office will be able to ascertain approximately how many acres lie within the waterway and how many acres are dry land for river front tax lots. The area calculated as lying within the water is given a minimal value or no value, consequently having very little, if any, tax consequences.
The Assessor's Office will continue to map this area of the Rogue River, as has been done in the past, until such time as the State gives the Assessor documentation claiming the State's ownership of the land lying below the ordinary high water line. River properties are appraised utilizing sales of like type properties. For river front properties it is clear that the most significant influence to value is that the property is contiguous to the river and, where applicable, has a river view. Sales of river property have historically been used to value all river properties. As such, some of these sales have deeds that are described to the center of the river and others do not. While size plays a factor in the value of the property, the most impacting consideration to value of the property is that the property is on the river. The actual amount of acreage may not be as great an influence to overall value. This is borne out in that for an assessment purpose, minimal to no value has been attributed to those acres that are submerged.
