Oregon Public Broadcasting

A conference is underway Tuesday between county and state tax officials. It’s pretty dry stuff, but made a little more exciting this year by a letter from county leaders.

Lincoln County accused the state of meddling in its business.

Rob Manning reports that blow-up may be part of a broader problem over how to supervise property taxes.

County commissioners usually have the last word on how county money is spent. They decide to hire sheriff’s deputies, or to give the librarian a raise. But it’s different at the tax office.

Lincoln County commissioner Bill Hall says the state’s revenue office stopped the county from cutting appraiser jobs – and forced the tax office to cut its hours.

Bill Hall: “Just the other day, we had a gentleman who lives in Portland, and took the bus down to Newport, had some paperwork to submit to the office, and was quite unhappy to find it closed.”

Hall says Lincoln County tried to keep the front desk open by having assessors run it. The state said no.

Mark Kinslow: “What we had told them upfront is that they couldn’t affect appraisal jobs, appraisal functions.”

Mark Kinslow with the Department of Revenue, says they suggested limiting office hours.

This back-and-forth is the result of a unique arrangement between revenue and Oregon counties.

State revenue officials supervise grant money that covers as much as one-fifth of the cost of county tax offices. In exchange for that money, counties abide by revenue’s guidelines for how many appraisers they need.

Lincoln County’s application complied with state conditions. But county commissioners weren’t happy about it. And they sent a blistering letter last week to the revenue director.

Again, county commissioner, Bill Hall. 

Bill Hall: “We called it the most one-sided, disproportionate, and unfair situation our commission has faced in more than four decades of collective public service for the three of us.”

Mark Kinslow with the state says he’s negotiated with a half-dozen counties in recent years, without protests like Lincoln County’s.

But Deschutes County assessor, Scot Langton, says problems could blow up elsewhere. He says counties have to pick up the tab for assessing and collecting taxes – even though 80 cents of every property tax dollar leave county coffers for schools, cities, and other districts. And, the state has reduced its spending on county tax offices.

Scot Langton:  “Something has to give. Those budget committees for the county have to look and prioritize and see where those limited tax dollars have to go. And then you can go from having a healthy tension to potentially having a train wreck, depending on how severe that loss of dollars are.”

Langton says problems could multiply depending on the economy, and how counties deal with the loss of federal timber payments. 

State and county officials would like to see changes. But recommendations from a task force that met last year got nowhere in Salem this year. Taxation and assessment are now on the docket for a new task force.