2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 08 - Revenue and Taxation › Chapter 310 - Property Tax Rates and Amounts; Tax Limitations; Tax Reduction Programs › Section 310.150 - Segregation into categories; category limits; determination whether amount of taxes on property is within limits; method of reducing taxes to meet limits.

(1) The three categories within which ad valorem property tax items are to be categorized in the notice to be filed under ORS 310.060 and for which category rates of ad valorem property taxes are to be computed under ORS 310.090 and tentative consolidated category rates are to be computed for each code area under ORS 310.147 are as follows:
(a) Taxes levied or imposed for the purpose of funding exempt bonded indebtedness.
(b) Taxes levied or imposed for the purpose of funding the public school system and that are not described in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(c) Taxes levied or imposed for the purpose of funding government operations other than public school system operations and that are not described in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(2) After computation of the tentative ad valorem property tax consolidated rate for each category under ORS 310.147, and after calculation of the amount of ad valorem property taxes to be imposed on properties in the county, but before extending any taxes on the assessment and tax roll, the assessor shall determine whether the total amount of taxes on property to be imposed on each property in the code area in each category is within the limits described in subsection (3) of this section.
(3)(a) The assessor shall determine whether the ad valorem property taxes to be imposed on any property exceed the limits described in this subsection in order to ensure, as guaranteed in section 11 (11) and 11b, Article XI of the Oregon Constitution, that taxes imposed in each geographic area taxed by the same local taxing districts do not exceed $5 (public school system) and $10 (other government) per $1,000 of real market value.
(b) For the category of taxes imposed for the purpose of funding the public school system that are not for the purpose of paying principal and interest on exempt bonded indebtedness, if the tentative consolidated ad valorem property tax rate determined under subsection (2) of this section exceeds $5 per $1,000 of real market value, the consolidated rate shall be adjusted as provided in this section so that the consolidated rate for the public school system category equals $5 per $1,000 of real market value.
(c) For the category of taxes imposed for the purpose of funding government operations other than the public school system and that are not for the purpose of paying principal and interest on exempt bonded indebtedness, if the tentative consolidated ad valorem property tax rate exceeds $10 per $1,000 of real market value, the consolidated rate shall be adjusted as provided in this section so that the consolidated rate for the other government category equals $10 per $1,000 of real market value.
(d) For the category of taxes imposed for the purpose of paying principal and interest on exempt bonded indebtedness, the tentative consolidated rate determined under subsection (2) of this section shall be the consolidated rate for the exempt bonded indebtedness category.
(4) If the taxes on property in either category to be imposed on any property in the code area exceed the limit established for that category in subsection (3) of this section, the assessor shall reduce the taxes by applying a reduction ratio.
(5)(a) If local option taxes described under ORS 280.040 to 280.145 have been adopted by one or more taxing districts in the code area, the reduction ratio shall be calculated under this subsection and applied only to the local option taxes imposed on the property for which the taxes are being determined.
(b) Local option taxes subject to compression under this subsection include urban renewal division of tax revenue that is derived from the division of local option tax authority.
(c) The numerator of the reduction ratio shall be the amount obtained (but not less than zero) by subtracting the tentative consolidated category rate of ad valorem property taxes that are not local option taxes from the maximum rate of ad valorem property taxes for the category described in subsection (3) of this section.
(d) The denominator for the ratio shall be the total rate of all local option taxes for the category.
(e) The assessor shall multiply the reduction ratio determined under this subsection by each local option tax amount to which the property is subject in the category.
(f) So reduced, the assessor shall again determine if the total taxes for the category to be imposed on the property exceed the limits described in subsection (3) of this section. If the reduced taxes for the category do not exceed the category limit, such taxes shall be the taxes used to compute the consolidated rate for the code area in which the property is located. If the reduced taxes for the category still exceed the category limit after all local option taxes have been eliminated, the taxes in the category shall be subject to further reduction under subsection (6) of this section.
(6)(a) If the property is not subject to local option taxes or if all local option taxes have been eliminated as a result of the application of the reduction ratio calculated under subsection (5) of this section, and the tentative consolidated rate determined under ORS 310.147 for the category exceeds the maximum rate of ad valorem property taxes for the category described in subsection (3) of this section, the reduction ratio shall be determined under this subsection.
(b) The numerator of the reduction ratio shall be the maximum rate permitted for the category described in subsection (3) of this section.
(c) The denominator of the reduction ratio shall be the tentative consolidated category rate under ORS 310.147 (or the category rate applicable to the property after the reduction under subsection (5) of this section, if applicable).
(d) The assessor shall multiply the reduction ratio determined under this subsection by the amount of each taxing district item of ad valorem property tax that is a component of the tentative consolidated category rate for the code area in which the property is located.
(7) In determining whether the taxes described in subsection (1)(c) of this section exceed the limitation under subsection (3)(c) of this section, all moneys raised through the urban renewal special levy described in ORS 457.435 and all moneys raised through the urban renewal division of tax, including amounts derived from exempt bonded indebtedness authority and local option tax authority, must be categorized as subject to the limitation described in subsection (3)(c) of this section. [1991 c.459 §213; 1997 c.541 §260; 2003 c.198 §1]