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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2012)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, November 7, 2012 Columbia County property taxes explained in detail by county The 2012-13 Columbia County Assessment and Tax Roll has been certified and property tax bills have been mailed to Columbia County property owners. Between January 1, 2011, and January 1, 2012, real mar- ket values for most residential properties continued to decline, however, at a much lower rate than the previous year. Due to the continued decline, there are more properties with real market values falling below the maximum assessed value, and are therefore paying taxes based on the real market value (RMV). For the 2010-11 tax year, only 725 of 24,529 properties countywide had a real market value lower than their maxi- mum assessed value. For the 2011-12 tax year, this in- creased to 6,000 of 24,363 properties, and for the 2012-13 tax year, there are a total of 8254 out of 24,443. Only 6.03% of commercial proper- ties fell below their maximum assessed value this year, while 68.45% of residential proper- ties in the cities of Saint Helens and Columbia City are below their maximum assessed val- ue. The drop in real market val- ue may result in a loss of rev- enue for some districts, due to compression. Compression oc- curs when a category of gov- ernment exceeds its consoli- dated rate limit when applied to the real market value of a prop- erty. The consolidated rates are $5.00/$1,000 RMV for educa- tion and $10.00/$1,000 RMV for general government. Con- solidated education rates for Saint Helens, Scappoose, Rainier and Vernonia, and con- solidated general government rates in the cities of Clatskanie and Rainier exceed their rate limits. If the full consolidated rate applied to the assessed value of a property is more than the consolidated rate limit applied to the RMV, each dis- trict’s tax in that category is re- duced proportionately so that it does not exceed the rate limits. However, if a district also has a voter-approved local option levy, that levy is compressed before the permanent operat- ing levies. Voter-approved bonded debt levies are exclud- ed from rate limitations. Due to the market decline and minimal new construction in the county, there is very little change in the total assessed value for most taxing districts. A total of $54,819,790 in property taxes are being billed for the county, cities, schools and special districts. That is 1.79 percent more than was billed last year. In addition, a total of $1,165,118 will be col- lected for such things as drainage district assessments and the Oregon Department of Forestry’s fire patrol special as- sessments, which is 7.16 per- cent higher than last year. Countywide, the market val- ue of all taxable property in- creased from $5.48 billion to $5.49 billion, an increase of only 0.25 percent. The first payment of the tax bill is due on Thursday, Novem- ber 15, 2012. At least one-third of the amount is due at that time. Payments can be made at the tax office in the court- house, Monday through Thurs- day between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The county offices are closed to the public on Fri- days. For payments made us- ing a bank’s bill pay service, the tax account number should be noted in the memo field. Payments that are mailed need to be postmarked by the 15th. A return envelope is included with the statements. The sec- ond and third installments are due by February 15, 2013 and May 15, 2013, however the County does not send out statements for the February or May due dates. Columbia County property taxes may be paid with E- checks, credit cards and debit cards through the Point & Pay website. To pay on-line, go to www.co.columbia.or.us; to pay by phone, call 1-866-587-4007. There is a 2.95% charge to use your credit or debit card and a flat fee of $2.95 for E-checks. All branches of St. Helens Community Federal Credit Union are authorized to collect 2012-13 property tax pay- ments, through November 15, 2012. Property owners who pay See Property on page 14 Community Calendar VERNONIA Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays 6:30 p.m., 410 North Street Alcoholics Anonymous Thursdays (Big Book Study) 7:00 p.m., 410 North Street American Legion Post #119 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., 627 Adams Avenue Booster Club 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Boy Scout Troop 201 Tuesdays 7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin Boy Scout Troop 860 Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., LDS Church Cemetery Beautification Comm. 2nd Thursday 6:30 p.m., Library Chamber of Commerce 2nd Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-6081 Community Coalition 2nd Monday 12:30 p.m. School District Ofc. Cub Scout Pack 201 Scout Cabin For Info Call 503-429-4250 Emerg. Preparedness Comm. 4th Wednesday 6:30 p.m., WOEC Friends of the Library 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library Girl Scouts, Neighborhood 4-2 For Info Call 503-819-0143 Izaak Walton League 3rd Thursday For location call 503-429-7193 Kiwanis Club 2nd & 4th Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Lions Club 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Municipal Airport Committee 1t Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Pioneer Museum For Info Call 503-429-3713 Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-0869 7:00 p.m.,Vernonia Grange Public Works Committee 4th Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Cares Directors For Info call 503-429-1414 Vernonia City Council 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Comm. Learning Center 1st Wednesday 5:00 p.m., VCLC Vernonia Community PTA 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Vernonia Garden Club 2nd Tuesday 1:30 p.m., Vernonia Library Vernonia Grange 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., Grange Hall Vernonia Health Center 3rd Thursday 6:30 p.m., 510 Bridge St. Vernonia Library Board 1st Wednesday 9:00 a.m., Sept-June, Library Vernonia Parks Committee 3rd Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Planning Comm. 1st & 3rd Thursdays 6:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Ridge Riders Last Thursday 7:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia RFPD Board 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia School Board 2nd Thursday 6:00 p.m., District Office Vernonia Sr. Center Board 2nd Friday 10:00 a.m., Senior Center Vernonia Transfer Station 2nd & 4th Saturdays 8 a.m.-2 p.m.,Behind VHS Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station WOEC Directors 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., WOEC MIST-BIRKENFELD M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg. 3rd 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 BANKS Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous American Legion Post #90 Banks City Council Banks Fire District #13 Banks Library Commission Banks Planning Commission Banks School Board Banks Youth Group Chamber of Commerce CPO 14 Everybody’s Hometown Band Friends of the Library Lions Club Sunset Park Assoc. T.O.P.S. Friday Wednesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Wednesday 3rd Tuesday Last Tuesday 2nd Monday Sunday, Wednesday 1st Thursday 3rd Monday Tuesdays 2nd Tuesday 1st & 3rd Mondays 3rd Wednesday Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall 9:00 a.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:00 p.m., Main Street Post 7:30 p.m., City Hall 7:00 p.m., Station 13 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., City Hall 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. 12:30 p.m., Fire District Office 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., BHS Music Room 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., Brown Derby 8:00 p.m., Gun Club 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) Board of Commissioners Wednesday 10:00 a.m., Courthouse Citizens for Senior Justice 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church Columbia 9-1-1 Board 3rd Thursday 9:00 a.m., 9-1-1 meeting room Columbia Comm Mental Health 1st Tuesday 5”30 p.m., 58646 McNulty Way Columbia Soil & Water District 3rd Wednesday 7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes County Fair Board 2nd Monday 6:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. County Parks Commission 2nd Thursday 4:00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St. Comm. on Children & Families 3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 505 N. Hwy. 30 Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm. Quarterly For Info call 503-397-7211 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.