Property tax season is upon us. 2024/25 property tax statements for Lincoln County are scheduled to be mailed on October 17th. Initial payment is due by November 15th. Full payments made by November 15th will receive a 3% discount and two-thirds payments will receive a 2% discount. For property owners making one-third payments, the second payment will be due by February 18th, 2025, and the third payment will be due by May 15th, 2025. Payments can be made electronically online, mailed with a postmark on or before November 15th, dropped off at a collection box, located at the courthouse parking lot or in person at the tax office located in room 205, on the second floor of the county courthouse.
Please visit the following webpage for more information on property tax payments:
2024-Tax-Statement-Insert-Online-Version (lincoln.or.us)
Values
The assessment date for property taxes is January 1st of each year. Overall, Real Market Value of property in Lincoln County is up approximately 3.9% from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2024, while countywide Assessed (taxable) Value has increased 3.4%. These changes include the value of new construction and development. Most property owners will see a typical 3% increase in their Assessed Value due to Measure 50 – a property tax
limitation measure approved by Oregon voters in 1997. When Measure 50 was first implemented, a “Maximum Assessed Value” was assigned to each property which equaled the property’s 1995 value minus 10%. For the years following, each property is assessed on the lesser of its Maximum Assessed Value from the previous year plus 3%, or its
Real Market Value. So long as the Real Market Value remains higher than the Maximum Assessed Value, the Assessed Value can increase up to 3%. This is the most common scenario. However, a property’s Assessed Value may increase more or less than 3%, or even decrease.
Following are two primary reasons:
1.) New construction, development, damage/destruction or other changes to property, considered an “exception” event, may add to or lower the property’s Assessed Value.
2.) If, following a market downturn, a property’s Real Market Value drops below its Maximum Assessed Value, the property is assessed at its Real Market Value. The Assessed Value may fluctuate up or down annually with the market, with no limitation, until it returns to or above the Maximum Assessed Value. At that point, the Assessed Value will once
again be restricted to 3% annual growth under Measure 50. For 2024, 5.8% of properties in Lincoln County are assessed on their Real Market Value. With increasing market values,
these properties may experience Assessed Value growth of more than 3%.
Levies
Total property taxes, fees and special assessments are up approximately 3.6% over last year. Generally, property taxes are a product of assessed value of property and underlying taxing district rates. Similar to changes in assessed values, changes in tax rates can impact overall property taxes. Following are notable taxing district rate changes for this year:
• Gleneden Beach Sanitary District was approved by voters for a 5-year local option levy for infrastructure improvements with a rate of $0.77 per thousand dollars of assessed value for all properties within the district’s service area.
• City of Toledo was approved by voters to issue general obligation bonds for the replacement of the Ammon Road water reservoir and related improvements and equipment, which will not take effect until the 2025/26 tax year. The City’s previous bonds have matured, so no property taxes will be levied for bond repayment for the current 2024/25 tax year. This temporarily reduces property taxes for City of Toledo properties by approximately $0.37 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value.
• Bear Valley Road District increased its operating tax rate from $0.75 cents to $1.50 per thousand dollars of assessed value. This increase is within the District’s permanent rate limitation.
• Bear Creek Hideout Special Road District decreased its 5-year local option levy rate from $4.56 to $4.29 per thousand dollars of assessed value.
There are 85 taxing districts within Lincoln County, including education districts, health districts, city, county, port, fire protection, water, road, special assessment districts and urban renewal. All districts have distinct tax rates, and most have different geographic boundaries, so overall tax rates for individual properties vary by location.
SUMMARY OF COUNTYWIDE PROPERTY TAXES IMPOSED
2023-24 2024-25 Difference
Operating Levies & Bonds $139,807,406.23 $144,107,650.31 $4,300,244.08
Urban Renewal $6,076,888.87 $6,950,130.49 $873,241.62
Special Assessments $938,249.31 $1,005,185.92 $66,936.61
Add Tax & Penalties $132,984.93 $203,068.15 $70,083.22
Total $146,955,529.34 $152,266,034.87 $5,310,505.53
Property tax statements display total amounts imposed by individual taxing districts, along with current and prior year property values. Values for both years are categorized by land, structure, total real market value and total assessed value. Taxpayers disputing their property values are encouraged to contact the Assessor’s office. Appraisal staff will be
available to answer questions and review properties for value adjustments up to December 31st , 2024. Taxpayers also have the option to file value petitions with the Property Value Appeals Board until December 31st, 2024. Appeal rights are described in detail on the back of the tax statement.
Questions?
Lincoln County Assessor’s and Tax Collector’s offices are currently open to public service Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM. Generally, value and tax-related questions can be answered by phone or email, however, if you’d like to speak to someone in person feel free to stop by the County courthouse offices.
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