Chapter 364
AN ACT
HB 2236
Relating to property tax refunds; creating new provisions; amending ORS
311.806; and prescribing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. ORS 311.806 is amended to read:
311.806. (1) Subject to
subsection (2) of this section, the county governing body shall refund, out of
the refund reserve account provided in ORS 311.807, or the unsegregated tax
collections account provided in ORS 311.385, taxes on property collected by an
assessor or tax collector pursuant to a levy of the assessor or of any taxing
district or tax levying body or pursuant to ORS 311.255, plus interest [thereon] as provided in ORS 311.812, in
the following cases:
(a) To the person
described in ORS 309.100 (1) and in whose name a petition was filed, whenever a
change in the value of property is ordered by a county board of property tax
appeals and no appeal is taken or can be taken from the board’s order, or
whenever ordered by the Oregon Tax Court or the Supreme Court and the order
constitutes a final determination of the matter;
(b) To the person who
has sought and obtained an order from the Department of Revenue under ORS
306.115, whenever a change in the value of property is ordered by the department
and no appeal is taken or can be taken from the order of the department;
(c) To the person who
meets the criteria described in ORS 305.275 and in whose name an appeal is
filed under ORS 305.275, whenever ordered by the Oregon Tax Court or Supreme
Court and the order constitutes a final determination of the matter;
(d) Whenever a change in
the value of property is made under ORS 309.115 upon resolution of an appeal
and no separate appeal of the value of the property was taken for the year of
the change:
(A) To the person in
whose name the appeal was filed, for each year after the year for which the
appeal was filed in which that person was listed as the owner or an owner or
the person in whose name the property was assessed; and
(B) To the owner of record
on the tax roll at the time of refund, each year thereafter;
(e) To the owner of
record on the tax roll at the time of refund, whenever taxes are collected
against real or personal property not within the jurisdiction of the tax
levying body;
(f) Except as provided
in ORS 310.143, to the owner of record on the tax roll at the time of refund,
whenever, through excusable neglect[,] or through an error subject to
correction under ORS 311.205, taxes on property are paid in excess of
the amount legally chargeable, limited to [thereon, and then only in] the amount of money collected in excess
of the amount actually due; or
(g) Except as provided
in ORS 311.808, to the payer of the tax whenever any person pays taxes on the
property of another by mistake of any kind.
(2)(a) Except as
provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, a refund of taxes may
not be allowed or made after six years from the assessment date for the tax
year for which the taxes were collected. A refund under this subsection may
be paid only to the extent that a refund under subsection (4) of this section
has not been paid.
(b) A refund of taxes
may be allowed or made under subsection (1)(f) or (g) of this section after the
period described in paragraph (a) of this subsection if, before the expiration
of the period, a written claim for refund of the taxes is filed by the taxpayer
with the county governing body.
(c) The county governing
body shall order a refund of taxes to be paid as specified in subsection (1) of
this section without the filing of a written claim and without regard to the
period specified under paragraph (a) of this subsection upon receipt of a copy
of an order by the Department of Revenue, the Oregon Tax Court or the Supreme
Court that constitutes a final determination that is not subject to appeal.
(3)(a) Upon request of
the owner or an owner of any taxable property or the person in whose name the
property is assessed, or the owner of record on the tax roll at the time of
refund, whichever is applicable, and with the approval of the tax collector,
the county governing body may authorize refunds payable under subsection (1)(a) to (e) of this section to be made by crediting the
total tax liability account of the requester with the amount of the refund. The
total tax liability account is the total amount of tax that has been extended
or charged against a particular property tax account as limited by section 11b,
Article XI of the Oregon Constitution.
(b) In the case of a
refund or credit payable to a single requester that results from an order
constituting a final determination of a matter as described under subsection
(1)(a), (b) or (c) of this section, a county governing body may elect to pay
the refund or apply the credit in equal periodic installments over not more
than the five-year period that begins on the date that the order is issued if
the amount to be refunded or credited exceeds the lesser of $250,000 or
one-quarter of one percent of the total amount of taxes on property imposed
within the county within the limits of section 11b, Article XI of the Oregon
Constitution, as listed on the certificate last prepared under ORS 311.105.
(c) If a county
governing body elects to pay a refund or credit under the provisions of
paragraph (b) of this subsection, and the election will result in a hardship to
a requester, the requester may appeal the election to the tax court as provided
in ORS 305.404 to 305.560.
(4)(a) The tax
collector shall refund taxes paid on a property value, a claim for exemption or
a claim for cancellation of a property tax exemption if:
(A) A county board of
property tax appeals or the
(B) The final resolution
is pending further appeal; and
(C) The county governing
body orders a refund of taxes paid under this subsection.
(b) An order by a county
governing body or a recommendation of an assessor or tax collector in regard to
this subsection may not be considered in determining matters in controversy on
appeal, including property value or tax liability.
(c) Interest may not be
paid on any refund under this subsection prior to final resolution of the
appeal. If, after taking into account the amount refunded under this
subsection, the final resolution of the controversy after appeal results in a
refund due, interest shall be determined and paid as provided in ORS 311.812.
(d) If, after taking
into account the amount refunded under this subsection, the final resolution of
the controversy after appeal results in additional taxes due on the property,
the additional taxes shall be billed and collected as provided in ORS 311.513.
[(4)] (5) Immediately upon payment
of the refund and any interest thereon, the tax collector shall make the
necessary correcting entries in the records of the office of the tax collector.
ORS 294.305 to 294.565 do not apply to refunds made out of the refund reserve
account or the unsegregated tax collections account.
[(5)] (6) A refund is not required under this section for any
tax year if the amount of the refund would be $10 or less. Any amount not
refunded under this subsection shall be distributed to taxing districts in the
same manner that other taxes are distributed.
[(6)] (7) As used in this section, “owner of record on the
tax roll at the time of refund” means the owner or an owner of the property or
the person in whose name the property is assessed on the tax roll last
certified and delivered to the tax collector under ORS 311.105 and 311.115.
SECTION 2. The amendments to ORS 311.806 by section 1
of this 2007 Act apply to appeals relating to property tax years beginning on
or after July 1, 2007, and to property tax appeals pending final resolution on
the effective date of this 2007 Act.
SECTION 3. This 2007 Act takes effect on the 91st day
after the date on which the regular session of the Seventy-fourth Legislative
Assembly adjourns sine die.
Approved by the Governor June 12, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 13, 2007
Effective date September 27, 2007
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