DocketNumber: TC-MD 080234C.
Judges: DAN ROBINSON, Magistrate.
Filed Date: 6/23/2008
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
Defendant's motion was heard by the court May 21, 2008. Allison Mudrick (Mudrick) appeared for Plaintiffs. Defendant was represented by Leslie Cech (Cech), an appraiser with the Multnomah County Assessor's office.
Plaintiffs filed a petition with the county board of property tax appeals (board) and the board sustained their values. Plaintiffs timely appealed the board's order to this court, asserting in Section 3 of their Complaint that "comparable properties * * * are assessed lower taxes," and in Section 4 requesting "a lowering of the taxes on property R121461 and/or an explanation for tax justification for this property." (Ptfs' Compl at 1.)
Plaintiffs provided information with their Complaint showing three allegedly similar properties with taxes as much as $1,000 less than their property. Mudrick provided information on four additional properties at the May 21, 2008, proceeding. Each comparable property is similar in size and year of construction, etc., with similar or higher RMVs, but lower property taxes. When questioned by the court, Mudrick stated that Plaintiffs' AV should be reduced to less than $262,000 so that their property taxes would be comparable to similar homes. Mudrick stated that a realtor told her that her home should be worth the RMV on the assessment and tax rolls, but that she would have a hard time selling her home for that amount because of the high property taxes, which are as much as $1,000 higher than similar homes.
As the court explained during the May 21, 2008, hearing, there is no legal authority that would allow the court to reduce Plaintiffs' AV on the facts of this case. That is because AV is a mathematical calculation established under Measure 50 for the property's base year, which in this case is 1997, and set thereafter according to the state's constitution and relevant statutes. *Page 3 A brief historical overview of Oregon's pre-and post-Measure 50 property tax system provides a helpful framework for understanding this case.
Prior to the enactment of Measure 50, "[a]ll real or personal property within each county [was] valued and assessed at 100 percent of its real market value." ORS
In May 1997, the Oregon voters approved a referendum that significantly altered Oregon's property tax system through an amendment to the state's constitution. Measure 50 established a new method for calculating AV through the concept of MAV, which in 1997 was 90 percent of the property's 1995 RMV on the rolls. See Or Const, Art
ORS
Plaintiffs' MAV was set in 1997 at 90 percent of the property's 1995 RMV on the assessment and tax rolls. In all likelihood, the MAV was less than the RMV, and AV was based *Page 4 on MAV.3 Thereafter, the MAV and AV have increased by three percent each year. According to Cech, Plaintiffs' MAV and AV for the year prior to the year at issue (i.e., tax year 2006-07) was $302,020, which increased by three percent to $311,080 for tax year 2007-08.
Because AV is simply a mathematical calculation determined in accordance with the procedures explained above (the lesser of RMV or MAV, the former moving with the market, the latter locked into annual three percent increases), the court cannot adjust Plaintiffs' AV to achieve uniformity with allegedly similar properties. Measure 50 explicitly excepts itself from the uniformity requirements of Oregon's constitution. Subsection (18) of Article XI, section 11 (Measure 50) provides that "Section 32, Article I, and section 1, Article IX of this Constitution, shall not apply to this section." Those sections require uniformity.4 See also Lorati,
IT IS THE DECISION OF THIS COURT that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is granted.
Dated this ______ day of June 2008.
If you want to appeal this Decision, file a Complaint in the RegularDivision of the Oregon Tax Court, by mailing to: 1163 State Street,Salem, OR 97301-2563; or by hand delivery to: Fourth Floor, 1241 StateStreet, Salem, OR. Your Complaint must be submitted within 60 days after the date of theDecision or this Decision becomes final and cannot be changed. This document was signed by Magistrate Dan Robinson on June 23, 2008.The Court filed and entered this document on June 23, 2008.
Article IX, section 1, provides: "The Legislative Assembly shall, and the people through the initiative may, provide by law uniform rules of assessment and taxation. All taxes shall be levied and collected under general laws operating uniformly throughout the State." *Page 1