T h e IN D E P E N D E N T, N ovem ber 6, 2003
P age 5
Market value, assessments increased at approximately same rate
From page 1
in the bonded debt levy for the
C latskanie School District. Res
id e n tia l p ro p e rtie s in rural
Rainier saw bills that w ere 2.83
percent higher than last year,
slightly less than three percent
due to small decreases in the
rate fo r C o lu m b ia C o u n ty ’s
bonded debt levy and the local
option levy for C olum bia 9-1-1.
A to ta l of $38,642,111 in
property taxes w as billed for
the county, cities, schools and
special districts. That am ount
w as 2.11 percent m ore than
was billed last year. In addition,
a total of $1,082,416 w as col
lecte d fo r such th in g s as
drainage districts assessm ents
and the O regon D epartm ent of
F orestry’s fire patrol special as
sessm ents.
C ounty wide, the m arket va l
ue of all taxable property in
creased from $3.58 billion to
$3.65 billion, an increase of
only 1.88 percent. Throughout
the county, m ost re sid e n tia l
property m arket values, based
on sales prior to January 1,
2003, saw no incre ase this
year. The exceptions w ere a
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one percent increase inside the
C ity of St. Helens, a fou r pe r
cent increase inside the C ity of
C olum bia City, and a three pe r
cent increase inside the C ity of
C latskanie. R esidential proper
ties in rural areas also stayed
the sam e except in Vernonia,
w h e re th e y in c re a s e d th re e
percent. The m arket value of
c o m m e rc ia l
p ro p e rtie s
in
creased nine percent in St. H e
lens, w as unchanged in S cap
poose, and decreased tw o pe r
cen t in V ernonia, C latskanie
and Rainier.
However, Linhares pointed
o u t th a t p ro p e rty ta x e s are
ba sed on a sse sse d valu es.
M easure 50 created a new va l
ue, “m axim um assessed va l
ue,” for each piece of property.
The m axim um assessed value
w as established in 1997-98 by
taking the 1995-96 m arket val
ue and reducing it 10 percent.
The assessed value is the low
er of real m arket value or the
m axim um assessed value.
The c o u n ty ’s total assessed
va lu e
th is
year
is
$2,983,801,023, or 2.67 per
cent higher than last year. The
increase is m ade up o f the
three percent due to reductions
in non-residential property va l
ue. C o u n ty w ide, in d u s tria l
property decreased by $28.69
m illio n , due la rg e ly to an
$18.71 m illio n re d u c tio n in
Boise Paper S olutions’ paper
mill in St. Helens. Forest land
also decreased in value by over
$19 m illion due to a recent ap
praisal by the O regon D epart
m ent of R evenue of all forest
land in the state.
O perating revenue for taxing
districts is directly tied to a s
sessed value under M easure
5 0 ’s rate based system . P rior to
M easure 50 in 1997, taxing dis
tricts had a “tax base" that w as
allow ed to increase an auto
m atic six percent per year. If
values w ent up o r dow n in the
district, the tax rate per th o u
sand of assessed value w as
adjusted to raise tha t am ount of
money. U nder the current sys
tem , taxing districts only re
ceive an increase in operating
funds if the assessed value in
the ir district goes up, unless
voters have passed a local o p
tion levy for operating pu rpo s
Alcoholics Anonymous
Mondays
Alcoholics Anonymous
Saturdays
American Legion Post #119
2nd Thursday
Arts & Crafts Society
2nd Thursday
Boosters
2nd Wednesday
Boy Scout Troop 201
Tuesdays
Boy Scout Troop 860
Wednesdays
Cemetery Beautification Comm
2nd Thursday
Chamber of Commerce
2nd Wednesday
Cub Scout Pack 201
Scout Cabin
Doll Club
4th Tuesday
1st Tuesday
Friends of the Library
Hands On Art Committee
3rd Wednesday
Home Extension Club
3rd Thursday
Izaak Walton League
3rd Thursday
1st & 3rd Tuesdays
Lions Club
Nehalem Valley Car Club
Pioneer Museum
Preschool Story Hour
Mondays
Upper Nehalem C.P.A.C.
2nd Tuesday
Vernonia Airport Committee
3rd Wednesday
Vernonia Cares Directors
Vernonia City Council
1st & 3rd Mondays
Vernonia Garden Group
1st Thursday
4th Saturday
Vernonia Grange
Vernonia Health Center
2nd Monday
Vernonia Planning Comm.
1st Thursday
Vernonia Pride
Last Thursday
Vernonia Ridge Riders
2nd Tuesday
Vernonia RFPD Board
2nd Thursday
Vernonia School Board
3rd Friday
Vernonia Sr. Center Board
Vem. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Thursday
Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters
2nd Monday
3rd Tuesday
WOEC Directors
Payment dates
The due date for at least one
third of property taxes is No
vem ber 15, however, since that
is a Saturday, the date is ex-
s NO7EWBE« ;
HHHlBÏBnda*
VERNONIA
es. At the sam e tim e, if values
in a particular taxing district go
dow n, the district will receive
le ss o p e ra tin g m o ney from
property taxes.
“ I am asked all the tim e if
districts are getting m ore m on
ey b e ca u se of all the new
houses that are being built,”
Linhares said. “ My answ er is
yes, but it takes a whole bunch
of new houses to really im pact
revenu e. A t the sam e tim e,
changes in industrial or utility
value can have a huge im pact
sim ply because the values are
so m uch greater,” he con tin
ued.
O f the 36 taxing d istricts
w hich levy a perm anent operat
ing rate, only 12 will see rev
enue increase by more than
th re e
p e rc e n t
and
one,
C latskanie Scool District, will
actually see operating revenue
decline by nearly tw o percent.
2
9
18
23
30
3
10
17
24
1
4 5 6 7 8
11 12 13 14 15
18 1-----------
25
388
tended until Monday, N ovem
ber 17. Property ow ners will re
ceive a three percent discount
if the entire am ount is paid by
Nov. 17. If tw o thirds of the bill
is paid by the 17th, there will be
a tw o percent discount of that
am ount. P aym e nts th a t are
m ailed m ust be post m arked by
Nov. 17. See your property tax
bill for ad dition al installm ent
dates.
Property taxes m ay be paid
at the Vernonia and C latskanie
branches of W auna Federal
C redit Union, all branches of
St. H elen s F ederal C red it
Union, and at Bank of the W est
in St. Helens. However, if there
are taxes owing from previous
years, paym ent can not be tak
en by the banks.
Property ow ners may appeal
the value of their property as in
past years. However, if the ap
peal results in a low er m arket
value there would be a reduc
tion in the taxes due only if the
m arket value falls below the as
sessed value. The deadline for
filing an appeal is D ecem ber
31, 2003. A ppeal form s are
available from the county.
DECEMBER
S M T
W T F S
7
14
21
28
1
8
15
22
29
2
3 4 5 6
9
10 11 12 13
16
17 18 19 20
23
24 25 26 27
30 31
January
8
4
Il
1«
2S
M T
J «
w
7
T
F 8
I
2
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» 1»
3
12 IJ 14 I f I t 17
I * 20 J1 JJ 2J 24
I * 27 20 2» M 31
MiST-BIRKENFELD
6:30 p.m., Head Start Bldg.
7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg.
627 Adams Ave./ 503-429-4000
2:00 p.m., City Library
7:30 p.m., VHS Library
7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin
7:00 p.m., LDS Church
7:00 p.m., Leonetti’s Grill
Noon, Lew’s Place
For Info Call 503-429-0188
1:00 p.m., Senior Center
7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library
7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg.
10:30 a.m., Christian Church
For location call 503-429-7193
6:30 p.m., Lew's Place
For Info Call 503-429-4074
For Info Call 503-429-8134
10:30 a.m., City Library
7:00 p.m., City Hall
7:00 p.m., City Library
For location call 503-429-1414
7:00 p.m., City Hall
7:00 p.m., Pioneer Museum
10:30 a.m., Grange Hall
6D0 p.m., 510 Bridge St.
7:00 p.m., City Hall
For Info Call, 503-429-5201
7:00 p.m., City Library
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
8:00 p.m., District Office
1:00 p.m., Senior Center
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
7:00 p.m., WOEC
M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg.
2nd Tuesday
M-BRFPD Board Workshop
4th Tuesday
M-B Ambulance Drill
1st & 2nd Thursdays
M-B Fire Drill
1st & 2nd Wednesdays
M-B Helping Circle
2nd Monday
M-B SAR Drill
3rd Wednesday
M-B Volunteer Assoc.
1st Tuesday
Natal Grange
2nd Wednesday
T.O.P.S.
Mondays
Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-2401
7:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.,
7:30 p.m.,
6:00 p.m.,
7:00 p.m.,
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
Main Fire Station
BANKS
Alcoholics Anonymous
Banks City Council
Banks Planning Commission
Banks School Board
Banks Youth Group
Chamber of Commerce
C P O 14
Friends of the Library
Lions Club
Sunset Park Assoc.
T.O.P.S.
Tri-City RFPD Board
W omen’s Aglow
Fridays
8:00 p.m., Methodist Church
2nd Tuesday
7:30 p.m., City Hall
Last Tuesday
7:00 p.m., City Hall
2nd Monday
7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library
Sundays, Wednesdays
7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg.
1st Thursday
12:30 p.m., Brown Derby
3rd Monday
7:00 p.m., City Library
2nd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., City Library
1st & 3rd Mondays
7:00 p.m., Schlegel Hall
3rd Wednesday
8:00 p.m., Gun Club
Wedmesdays
7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg.
2nd Wednesday
7:00 p.m., Station 13
2nd Thursday
7:00 p.m., City Library
(All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.)
Board of Commissioners
Wednesdays
10 a.m., Courthouse
Citizens for Senior Justice
2nd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church
County Fair Board
2nd Monday
7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg.
County Parks Commission
6.00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St.
3rd Monday
Mental Health Advisory Comm.
10 a.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse
3rd Tuesday
Comm, on Children & Families
3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 550 N. Hwy. 30
Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm 2nd Tuesday
3:00 p.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse
Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410
or by mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.