Salem, OR – Marion County tax statements were mail on Thursday, October 11, and should arrive in property owner mailboxes soon. Tom Rohlfing, Marion County Assessor, certified the 2018-2019 Tax Roll on October 9, 2018.

As of the January 1, 2018, valuation date, the aggregate Real Market Value of all property countywide increased by 9.91% from last year, to $46.39 billion.  Real Market Value is the estimated amount in cash that could reasonably be expected to be paid for a property by an informed buyer to an informed seller.  This rapid increase in market value stems from such factors as the healthy economy, high employment rates, and national interest in this region.     

Escalating values of residences and residential land located in cities and towns largely fueled the increase, jumping more than $1.86 billion or 11.72%. The total value of rural property, including acreage homes, farms, and forest lands, also showed continued growth, increasing values by 11.34%. 

Due to Measure 50 benefits, some homeowners will experience much smaller tax increases than the preceding figures suggest. The typical unchanged home will experience only a 3% increase in assessed value no matter where it is located in the county. However, changes in tax rates due to new or expiring bonds will significantly affect owners in selected communities.

Salem and Keizer have experienced the largest tax rate increase this year. There will be an 11% tax amount increase for the average homeowner in both Salem and Keizer due to the new Salem-Keizer School District and Salem Public Library Bonds. The East Salem Service District has an additional $10 per month fee for each household, apartment unit, and per acre of commercial property for additional public safety services. Aurora and Hubbard will see tax amount increases of 6% and the city of Donald will see a 5% increase due to the North Marion School Bond. The most significant decrease will be noticed by homeowners in St. Paul, with typical tax bills decreasing approximately 8% due to an expiration of a local option levy.

Commercial and industrial properties show a 7.46% growth in total value, which is slightly lower than residential, urban homes or rural properties. Trends vary by property type. Industrial facilities, warehouses, and prime retail and office properties continue to experience value increases. Apartment construction added significant new value, while existing apartments continued to show growth.

Assessed Value county-wide grew by 4.64% to $25.34 billion, standing at just 54.62% of total Real Market Value. A big factor in the gap between market and assessed values is the Measure 50 limit of 3% annual growth in the Maximum Assessed Value of unchanged property. However,

13,350 properties enjoy sharply reduced assessed values and taxes due to farm or forest special assessment and more than 16,000 properties receive full or partial tax exemptions.    

The value of Marion County property exempt from taxation increased by $319 million to just under $7.01 billion. Exemptions continue to expand due to new legislation and tax court interpretations of existing statutes.

Primary beneficiaries of Marion County property taxes are schools, the community college, and educational service districts, receiving 46.14% of the total. Other major recipients include cities (22.63%), Marion County government (17.17%), and fire districts (6.4%). Urban renewal districts receive about (3.18%). These percentages are similar to last year. 

Mr. Rohlfing encourages property owners to promptly review their tax statement for accuracy.  This includes checking for correct ownership, mailing, and location addresses. To aid with this, the Assessor’s Office provides a wide array of information on its website, including more detailed information about how each property is assessed than can fit on the mailed tax statement. 

Taxes are due by November 15, 2018, to receive the 3% discount and avoid interest charges.  Owners with questions, or who feel changes are needed, should contact the Assessor’s Office at (503) 588-5144. Those who disagree with the Real Market Value placed on their property are encouraged to request a review prior to filing an appeal. If the property owner still does not agree with the value once the review is completed, instructions on the back of the tax statement describe how to appeal to the local Board of Property Tax Appeals, which is comprised of community volunteers.

Salem, OR – Marion County is hosting an East Salem Town Hall on Tuesday, October 9, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The event will be held at Chemeketa Community College, Bldg. 2 Room 179, located at 4000 Lancaster Dr. NE in Salem. Parking will be available in the blue lot at no charge. The town hall will also stream live on Facebook (@MarionCountyOR).

With almost 40,000 residents, unincorporated east Salem is the size of a small city with unique urban needs. County staff from public safety, dog services, and public works will be attendance with short presentations on topics ranging from traffic and law enforcement, to sewer and stormwater, roads, streetlights, parks, and emergency preparedness. The majority of the meeting will be set aside for questions and answers from the audience.

Annually, the county hosts town hall discussions throughout Marion County to address issues and concerns specific to individual communities. Commissioner Janet Carlson said, “The county encompasses a broad variety of programs and services that benefit our communities. We often hear from people who have no idea what the county does, yet their lives are touched every day by our employees and services.”

For more information, contact the Marion County Board of Commissioners Office at (503) 588-5212, email s@co.marion.or.us">commissioners@co.marion.or.us, or visit our Facebook event https://business.facebook.com/events/236978663832130/.

Salem, OR – On October 25, Marion County will celebrate ten years of the “Giving People a Second Chance” community breakfast which supports the Marion County Reentry Initiative. The event will be held at the Salem Conference Center located at 200 Commercial St. SE in Salem. Doors open at 7 a.m. and the program will begin promptly at 7:30 a.m. There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is required at http://bit.ly/2018MCRI.

This engaging and inspiring event will feature a retrospective of the last ten years of the Marion County Reentry Initiative – a collaborative effort involving public safety and justice, mental health and substance abuse treatment, victim services, health care, and education partners working together to rebuild lives, promote community safety, and save taxpayer money by breaking the cycle of criminal activity. 

“Supervising people through parole and probation is only part of the equation,” said Commissioner Janet Carlson. “People have to have housing, they have to have jobs, they have to have good support systems, and they have to reunite with their families. Parenting can become a real challenge. There are a lot of barriers for people trying to successfully reintegrate into the community.”

More than 600 offenders are released into Marion County communities each year. Forty-eight percent of those released are immediately homeless, 60-70 percent have substance abuse problems, and most have no transportation. Seventy percent are parents.

The reentry initiative helps those reentering society by giving them access to opportunities for assistance with housing, employment, job skills, mentoring, transportation, and treatment for mental health and addiction.

By providing comprehensive services, Marion County has seen dramatic reductions in recidivism – defined as committing a new felony crime within three years of release. The county’s recidivism rate has seen a steady decline since 2002 when it was 37 percent. Recidivism dipped to an all-time low of 14 percent in 2014 and has been holding steady at roughly 20 percent for the last few years.

Visit http://bit.ly/2018MCRI to register on Eventbrite. For more information, contact the Marion County Board of Commissioners Office at (503) 588-5212 or email ell@co.marion.or.us">kwitherell@co.marion.or.us.

Salem, OR – On September 25, 2018, a federal magistrate judge approved Marion County’s status as an intervenor in the lawsuit between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Northwest Environmental, Wildearth Guardians, and Native Fish Society. In order to maintain a stable economy in the North Santiam Canyon and for the health and welfare of Marion County’s residents, including safe and adequate drinking water for the city of Salem, the county filed the motion to intervene in the U.S. District Court of Oregon on September 6, 2018.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed construction of a water mixing tower to control water temperature at Detroit Dam. In order to construct the tower, it is anticipated that Detroit Lake would need to be drained for an extended period of time which could negatively impact agricultural and recreation based industries in the area.

Marion County Economic Development Coordinator Tom Hogue estimates that 70 percent of jobs in the Detroit Lake area are recreation based and prolonged low water conditions could lead to an annual $11 million loss to these industries. Additionally, farms and businesses in the southern part of the county that rely on water from the North Santiam River Watershed for irrigation would also be severely impacted by low water conditions at Detroit Lake.

“With this action, Marion County is seeking to protect the long-term viability of county agricultural and recreational industries,” said Commissioner Kevin Cameron. “It is important for Marion County to officially participate in this lawsuit to ensure the concerns of our residents and businesses are considered.”