Chapter 616 Oregon Laws 2007
AN ACT
HB 2239
Relating to central assessment for property tax purposes; creating new
provisions; and amending ORS 305.280, 308.540, 308.580, 308.585, 308.590,
308.595, 308.600, 308.605, 308.610 and 308.810.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1.
ORS 308.580 is amended to read:
308.580. (1) The
Department of Revenue shall give public notice by [three weekly publications in some] publication at least once a
week for three successive weeks in a newspaper printed at the state
capital, setting forth that [it will
attend in its office at the capital of the state on the second Monday in June
and] on June 15 of the assessment year the department shall:
(a) Publicly examine and review the
tentative assessment roll made by [it and
review the same, and] the department;
(b) Correct all errors in valuation,
description, [quantities or qualities of
property by it assessable] quantity and quality of property assessable
by the department under ORS 308.505 to 308.665; and
(c) [in apportionments of assessments made by it]
Correct all errors in the apportionment to counties of the assessments made by
the department under ORS 308.505 to 308.665.
(2) [The] Interested persons and
companies [interested shall] may
appear at the time and place [appointed]
given in the notice. Proof of the notice may be made by affidavit as provided
by law [provided,] and filed
with the Director of the Department of Revenue on or before the day on
which the department [shall convene]
begins its examination and review.
SECTION 2. (1)
In addition to the notice made by publication under ORS 308.580, the Department
of Revenue shall mail a notice to each person or company assessed under ORS
308.505 to 308.665 that states the amount the department intends to place on
the assessment roll as the assessment of the property of the person or company
that is assessable under ORS 308.505 to 308.665. The department shall mail the
notice of tentative assessment no later than May 25 of the assessment year.
(2) The notice shall be
mailed to the last-known address of the person or company.
(3) A failure by the
department to properly give the notice required by this section does not
invalidate any assessment made by the department.
(4) On and after the date
that notice is mailed under this section and before the date of completion of
the review of the roll, the department shall make the tentative assessment roll
and the apportionment of the assessments to counties available for inspection
by a person or company receiving notice under this section.
SECTION 3. (1)
A person or company receiving a notice of tentative assessment under section 2
of this 2007 Act may make a request for a conference on the reduction in
valuation or modification of the apportionment of a tentative assessment set
forth in the notice.
(2) The request shall be
made to the Director of the Department of Revenue on or before June 15 of the
assessment year. If the Department of Revenue failed to properly mail the
notice described in section 2 of this 2007 Act to the person or company, a
request for a conference may be made on or before June 25 of the assessment
year, but may not be made thereafter.
(3) The director shall
hold a conference under this section as soon as is practicable following the
date a request is made and shall issue an order modifying the valuation or
apportionment of an assessment or affirming the tentative assessment on or
before August 1 of the tax year.
(4) A conference with
the director is an administrative remedy that must be exhausted before an
appeal of the valuation or apportionment of an assessment may be made to the
Oregon Tax Court. The valuation or apportionment of an assessment under ORS
308.505 to 308.665 may not be appealed to the tax court if the person or
company does not file a timely request for a conference under this section
prior to seeking an appeal before the tax court.
(5) Subject to
subsection (4) of this section, an appeal to the tax court may be made under
ORS 305.280.
(6) A petition may not
be filed with a county board of property tax appeals for a reduction in value
of property assessed under ORS 308.505 to 308.665 or with respect to any other
matter arising under ORS 308.505 to 308.665.
SECTION 4.
ORS 308.585 is amended to read:
308.585. [The administrator of the division charged
with the responsibility of preparing the annual assessment roll required by ORS
308.515, shall appear at the office of the Director of the Department of
Revenue at the capital of the state on the second Monday of June in each year
and shall then deliver to the director] The Department of Revenue shall
prepare the tentative assessment roll [prescribed
in ORS 308.540 to 308.575] of property subject to assessment under ORS
308.505 to 308.665 on or before June 15 of the assessment year.
SECTION 5.
ORS 308.590 is amended to read:
308.590. (1) The
Director of the Department of Revenue shall:
(a) Review, examine and
correct the tentative assessment roll [made pursuant to ORS 308.515] prepared under ORS 308.585.
(b) Increase or reduce
the valuation of property assessed on the roll so that the valuation is the
assessed value of the property.
[(c) Assess omitted taxable property that is assessable by the
Department of Revenue in the manner provided in subsection (4) of this section.]
[(d)] (c) Correct errors in apportionments of assessments on
the roll.
[(e)] (d) Correct errors in the ratio of average maximum
assessed value to average real market value calculated under ORS 308.153.
(2) If it appears to the
director that there is any real or personal property that, by law, the
department is permitted to assess that has been assessed by the department [multiple times] more than one time,
or incorrectly assessed as to description, quantity or quality, or assessed in
the name of a person or company not the owner, lessee or occupant of the
property, or assessed under or beyond the actual assessed value of the
property, the director may make proper corrections to the roll.
(3) If it appears to the
director that there [has been any] is
real or personal property that has been assessed by the department but that is
not assessable by the department, the director may make proper corrections to
the roll.
(4) If it appears to the
director that any real or personal property that is assessable by the
department has not been assessed upon the [assessment]
roll, [or on any assessment roll for a
year not exceeding five years prior to the last roll certified,] the
director shall assess the property at its assessed value.
(5) [The] Property [assessable] assessed by the department within any county
shall be apportioned by the department to the county [at its assessed value as finally adopted under ORS 309.203].
SECTION 6.
ORS 308.595 is amended to read:
308.595. [(1)] The Director of the Department of
Revenue, while reviewing and apportioning the tentative assessment roll,
[shall] may not increase the
valuation of any property on the [assessment]
roll [or add omitted property thereto]
without giving to the company or person in whose name [it] the property is assessed at least six days’ written
notice to appear and show cause, if any, why the valuation of the assessable
property of [such] the company
or person, or some part thereof, to be specified in the notice, [shall] should not be increased[, or why the property should not be added to
the roll; but]. A notice [shall
not be] is not necessary if the person or company appears
voluntarily before the director and is [there]
notified by the director that the property of the person or company, or some
specified part thereof is, in the opinion of the director, assessed below its
assessed value [or has been omitted from
the roll].
[(2) Not later than 20 days prior to the day the director is required by
law to review the roll, the Department of Revenue shall mail to each company
assessed by it notice of the amount it has placed or intends to place on the
roll as the assessment of the company’s property. The notice shall be mailed to
the last-known address of the company. Failure of the department to mail such
notice shall not invalidate any assessment. From and after the date of such
notice the department shall maintain in its office at Salem for the inspection
of the company the tentative assessment and apportionment of its assessment to
the several counties.]
[(3) A request for a conference on the notice of assessment may be taken
to the Director of the Department of Revenue for reduction or correction in the
valuation or apportionment of a particular assessment. A request for a
conference on the value contained in the notice must be filed no later than the
second Monday in June, prior to the July 1 beginning of the tax year. If the
department fails to mail the notice at the time provided in subsection (2) of
this section, the time for filing a request for a conference shall be extended
for 10 days after the second Monday in June. The director shall hold
conferences and issue orders on all conferences under this subsection. The
director shall issue the orders no later than the following August 1.]
[(4) The provisions of ORS chapter 305 shall apply to appeals to the
Oregon Tax Court.]
SECTION 7. (1)
Following the date that an assessment roll prepared under ORS 308.505 to
308.665 is certified under ORS 308.635, the Director of the Department of Revenue
may correct a clerical error, or an error or omission in the certified roll, as
prescribed in this section.
(2) For purposes of this
section, a clerical error is an error on the roll that arises from an error in
the records of the Department of Revenue and that, had it been discovered by
the department prior to certification of the roll, would have been corrected as
a matter of course, and for which the information necessary to correct the
error is contained in the records of the department. Clerical errors include,
but are not limited to, arithmetic or copying errors or the omission or
misstatement of a property value on the roll.
(3) Except as provided
in subsection (4) of this section, the director may correct any other error or
omission of any kind, including, but not limited to:
(a) The elimination of
the assessment to one person or company of property owned or used by another
person or company on the assessment date;
(b) The correction of a
value changed on appeal;
(c) The correction of an
error in the assessed value of property resulting from an error in the
identification of a unit of property;
(d) An error in
apportionment of assessments on the roll; and
(e) An error in the
ratio of average maximum assessed value to average real market value determined
under ORS 308.153.
(4) For purposes of this
section, the director may not correct an error in valuation judgment that is an
error in the department’s opinion of the value of property.
(5) Corrections may be
made under this section to the roll last certified, or to the certified roll
for any prior year that does not exceed five years prior to the year for which
the last roll was certified under ORS 308.635.
(6) If the director
makes a correction under this section that has the effect of increasing the
assessment to which the correction relates, except where the correction is made
to correct a value changed on appeal, the department shall treat the correction
as an addition of omitted property for purposes of giving the notice required
under section 9 of this 2007 Act.
SECTION 8. (1)
If the Director of the Department of Revenue determines that any real or
personal property that is assessable by the Department of Revenue under ORS
308.505 to 308.665 has not been assessed on the assessment roll for the year in
which the roll was last certified or on the roll for any prior year that does
not exceed five years prior to the year for which the last roll was certified
under ORS 308.635, the department shall give the notice prescribed in section 9
of this 2007 Act to the person or company in whose name the omitted property is
to be assessed.
(2) Property shall be
presumed to be omitted property subject to assessment under ORS 308.505 to
308.665 whenever the department discovers or receives credible information
that:
(a) The addition of any
building, structure, improvement, machinery, equipment or other asset was not
reported in a statement filed under ORS 308.520;
(b) The cost, as of the
assessment date, of any building, structure, improvement, machinery, equipment
or other asset reported in a return required by the department exceeds the cost
stated in the statement filed under ORS 308.520; or
(c) Any item listed in
ORS 308.525 or under rules adopted to implement ORS 308.525 was underreported
in the statement filed under ORS 308.520.
(3) Section 7 (4) of
this 2007 Act does not apply to the addition of omitted property under
subsection (1) of this section.
SECTION 9. (1)
The Department of Revenue shall give notice to the company or person in whose name
property is assessed of the department’s intention to add omitted property to
the assessment roll under section 8 of this 2007 Act.
(2) The notice must:
(a) Be in writing;
(b) Be mailed to the
last-known address of the person or company;
(c) Describe in general
terms the property to be added to the roll; and
(d) State that the
person or company shall be given an opportunity, not less than 20 days after
the mailing of the notice, to appear before the department and show cause as to
why the property should not be added to the roll and assessed to the person or
company.
SECTION 10. (1)
If the person or company that is notified under section 9 of this 2007 Act does
not appear before the Department of Revenue or appears but fails to show cause
as to why the assessment should not be made, the Director of the Department of
Revenue shall proceed to correct each certified assessment roll from which the
property was omitted, but may not correct a roll for a year that exceeds five
years prior to the year for which the last roll was certified.
(2) The director shall
give notice of the correction to the assessor of each county to which an
assessment of omitted property is to be apportioned. Under ORS 311.205 (1)(c),
the officer in charge of the assessment and tax roll shall make the appropriate
correction to the roll.
(3) A person or company
aggrieved by an assessment of omitted property under sections 8 and 9 of this
2007 Act and this section may appeal to the Oregon Tax Court, as prescribed in
ORS 305.275 and 305.280.
SECTION 11.
ORS 305.280 is amended to read:
305.280. (1) Except as
otherwise provided in this section, an appeal under ORS 305.275 (1) or (2)
shall be filed within 90 days after the act, omission, order or determination
becomes actually known to the person, but in no event later than one year after
the act or omission has occurred, or the order or determination has been made.
An appeal under ORS 308.505 to 308.665 shall be filed within [the time prescribed under ORS 308.595]
90 days after the date the order is issued under section 3 (3) of this 2007 Act.
An appeal from a supervisory order or other order or determination of the
Department of Revenue shall be filed within 90 days after the date a copy of
the order or determination or notice of the order or determination has been
served upon the appealing party by mail as provided in ORS 306.805.
(2) An appeal under ORS
323.416 or 323.623 or from any notice of assessment or refund denial issued by
the Department of Revenue with respect to a tax imposed under ORS chapter 118,
308, 308A, 310, 314, 316, 317, 318, 321 or this chapter, or collected pursuant
to ORS 305.620, shall be filed within 90 days after the date of the notice. An
appeal from a proposed adjustment under ORS 305.270 shall be filed within 90
days after the date the notice of adjustment is final.
(3) Notwithstanding
subsection (2) of this section, an appeal from a notice of assessment of taxes
imposed under ORS chapter 314, 316, 317 or 318 may be filed within two years
after the date the amount of tax, as shown on the notice and including
appropriate penalties and interest, is paid.
(4) Except as provided
in subsection (2) of this section or as specifically provided in ORS chapter
321, an appeal to the tax court under ORS chapter 321 or from an order of a
county board of property tax appeals shall be filed within 30 days after the
date of the notice of the determination made by the department or date of
mailing of the order, date of publication of notice of the order or date of
mailing of the notice of the order to the taxpayer, whichever is applicable.
(5) If the tax court
denies an appeal made pursuant to this section on the grounds that it does not
meet the requirements of this section or ORS 305.275 or 305.560, the tax court
shall issue a written decision rejecting the petition and shall set forth in
the decision the reasons the tax court considered the appeal to be defective.
SECTION 12.
ORS 308.540 is amended to read:
308.540. For each
year, the Department of Revenue shall prepare [each year] an assessment roll, in which shall be assessed, as of
January 1 at 1:00 a.m. of [such]
the year, the assessed value of [all
the properties of the several] the property of persons and companies
subject to taxation under ORS 308.505 to 308.665. The assessment roll shall not
be final until reviewed as provided in ORS [308.580
to 308.610] 308.590 and certified as provided in ORS 308.635.
SECTION 13.
ORS 308.600 is amended to read:
308.600. The Director of
the Department of Revenue[, sitting for
the purpose of reviewing and apportioning the assessment roll, shall continue
sessions from day to day, exclusive of Sundays and legal holidays, until the
examination, review, correction, equalization and apportionment of the roll is
completed. The director] shall complete the examination, review,
correction, [equalization] and
apportionment of the assessment roll under ORS 308.590 by August
1 of the tax year.
SECTION 14.
ORS 308.605 is amended to read:
308.605. (1)
Corrections, additions to or changes in the assessment roll prepared
under ORS 308.505 to 308.665 shall be entered in a separate part of the
roll headed substantially, “as reviewed,” and the entries in [such] the separate part shall be
the record of the action of the Department of Revenue. The department may
prescribe some other method to record the corrections, additions to or changes
in the roll.
(2) The meetings,
sittings and adjournment of the department, sitting for the purpose of review,
shall be recorded in [its] the
department’s journal or may be recorded as otherwise prescribed by the
department.
SECTION 15.
ORS 308.610 is amended to read:
308.610. Upon completion
of the review of the roll as provided in ORS [308.580 to 308.610] 308.590, the Director of the Department
of Revenue shall take and subscribe to an oath similar to the oath required for
assessors under ORS 308.320. The oath shall be filed with the Secretary of
State.
SECTION 16.
ORS 308.810 is amended to read:
308.810. (1) Every
association referred to in ORS 308.805 shall make and file with the Department
of Revenue, on or before February 1 of each year, in such form and on such
blanks as the department may prescribe and provide, the statement required
under ORS 308.520 and 308.525, and shall include therein the amount of all its
gross revenue subject to the tax levied by ORS 308.805 for the calendar year
preceding the making of such statement. The association shall compute and
forward on or before July 1 of each year the lesser of the tax calculated under
ORS 308.807 (1) on such gross revenue or the tax calculated under ORS 308.807
(2) on the real market value of the transmission and distribution lines used or
operated by the association.
(2) The department shall
notify the association of the real market value of the transmission and
distribution lines used or operated by the association on or before the date
fixed for notices of assessment to be issued under section 2 of this 2007
Act or ORS 308.595 [(2)].
SECTION 17. Sections
2, 3 and 7 to 10 of this 2007 Act and the amendments to ORS 305.280, 308.540,
308.580, 308.585, 308.590, 308.595, 308.600, 308.605, 308.610 and 308.810 by
sections 1, 4 to 6 and 11 to 16 of this 2007 Act apply to assessment rolls
initially prepared or corrected on or after the effective date of this 2007
Act.
SECTION 18. Sections
2, 3 and 7 to 10 of this 2007 Act are added to and made a part of ORS 308.505
to 308.665.
Approved by the Governor June 26, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 27, 2007
Effective date January 1, 2008
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