COAST WEEKEND: ‘AU NATUREL: THE NUDE IN THE 21ST CENTURY’ INSIDE
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 160
ONE DOLLAR
SEASIDE SWEEPS CLATSOP CLASH • SPORTS 10A
LANDOWNERS FUME
OVER FIRE FEE
Astoria
may turn
to tax for
housing
Construction tax
could spur options
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Astoria may set up a construction
excise tax program that raises money to
increase the city’s housing stock.
Community Development Director
Kevin Cronin advanced the idea, orig-
inally fl oated last year , at Wednesday’s
City Council work session.
In
2015,
the City Coun-
cil
embraced
the goal of pro-
moting
hous-
ing that Astori-
ans can afford.
The housing scarcity affects commu-
nities throughout Clatsop County, bur-
dening residents at all income levels. A
construction excise tax is one of several
tools the council has discussed to con-
front the issue.
“That’s the one tool that I think has
the most potential impact to moving the
needle here in Astoria,” Cronin told the
council.
See TAX, Page 7A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Tim Mancill says he was notified in January that he will have to pay an extra fee to the state on his Seaside property for fire pro-
tection. Mancill has lived on his Seaside property for 13 years.
Hundreds face new assessments
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Key data is
lacking in
housing debate
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
L
and owners in Clatsop County
are challenging a fee assessed
by the state for fi re protection,
citing improper classifi cation and a
lack of advance notice.
In early January, roughly 2,300
land owners in the Astoria Forest Pro-
tection District were notifi ed that their
properties, designated as forest lands
in July, would be assessed an annual
fee for fi re protection as part of their
property taxes. But some argue either
that their properties should not qualify
as forestland or they had not received
proper notice.
The Oregon Department of For-
estry provides fi re protection to for-
est and grazing lands through money
from both the state general fund and
fees it collects from forestland prop-
erty owners.
Overall, roughly 4,750 lots were
added as forestlands, while 1,200
lots — including 600 owners — were
removed from the list.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
See FEE, Page 7A
Tim Mancill walks on his property on Wednesday in Seaside. Mancill is appealing the
added fire protection fee on his property.
SALEM — The state housing agency
won’t fi nish a statewide affordable hous-
ing inventory before the end of the leg-
islative session during which lawmak-
ers could consider millions of dollars in
funding for affordable housing.
The inventory is intended to give
agencies, lawmakers and nonprofi t
housing investors an accurate picture of
what affordable housing exists and what
federally backed
projects are at risk
of losing affordabil-
ity because of expir-
ing contracts with
property owners.
Oregon Hous-
ing and Community
Services was called
out in an audit by
the Secretary of
Alissa
State’s Offi ce in
Keny-Guyer
early December for
failing to provide a
statewide affordable housing inventory
and statewide housing plan. Both are
critical to adequately and strategically
addressing the state’s affordable hous-
ing shortage, the audit found.
See DATA, Page 7A
Cities push reforms to increase property tax cash
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — As legislators
set to work on balancing the
state’s budget, some lawmak-
ers and lobbyists are consider-
ing property tax reform to ben-
efi t local government budgets.
In particular, supporters
want to change how prop-
erty taxes are calculated, and
remove limits on tax rates.
Two ballot measures
approved by voters in the
1990s, Measure 5 and Mea-
sure 50, limited the amount of
property taxes Oregonians pay,
and annual tax increases.
Measure 5, passed in 1990,
limited the total tax rates lev-
ied by all local taxing bodies to
no more than $15 per
$1,000 of assessed
property value — up
to $5 for education,
and $10 for other
local taxing bodies.
Measure
50,
passed in 1997,
decoupled a prop-
erty’s assessed val-
uation, the amount on which
it is taxed, from real market
value, according to the Ore-
gon Department of Revenue,
and put limits on how much
a property’s assessed value
could increase from year to
year.
The state’s cities advocate
a “transition” back to real mar-
ket value-based calculations
and for permitting local voters
to approve rates exceeding the
limits established
by Measure 5.
Without
a
reduction in tax
rates, the pro-
posal would lead
to higher property
taxes. According to
the League of Ore-
gon Cities, there is
a state average of a 25 percent
difference between the real
market value of property and
its assessed value.
Homestead exemption
The Legislature is also
looking at a homestead
exemption, which could cush-
ion homeowners from sud-
den tax leaps on their primary
residences.
Cities contend Measures 5
and 50 have meant that owners
of similarly priced properties
can pay signifi cantly dispa-
rate amounts in taxes, and that
cities have to compete with
other local jurisdictions, such
as counties and fi re protection
districts, for key funding.
Even if residents of a city
support measures to pay for
local libraries or to build a new
police station, for example,
the total tax rate per $1,000
of assessed valuation can’t
exceed the state limits.
The proposal could also
lead to greater increases in
assessments. Assessed valu-
ations — due to the require-
ments of Measure 50 — typi-
cally grow at a slower rate than
real market value. On the other
hand, when the real estate
market dips, so do real market
values.
A senate resolution, Senate
Joint Resolution 3, proposes
repealing Measure 50 and
replacing it with a real market
value-based system. That reso-
lution is scheduled for a pub-
lic hearing before the Senate
Finance and Revenue Com-
mittee Tuesday.
“We would support that in
theory,” said Wendy Johnson,
an intergovernmental relations
associate for the League of
Oregon Cities, noting that the
details have not been ironed
out.
That resolution is the fi rst
placeholder bill in what cities
expect to be a broader prop-
erty tax reform package, John-
son said.