Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 150 - DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE › Division 294 - LOCAL BUDGET › Section 150-294-0130 - Alternative Method for Certification

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) If, at a conference held pursuant to
			 notice under ORS 294.175, a county is unable to
			 meet the level of expenditures required by the department for certification in
			 the county assessment function funding assistance program for a particular
			 year, that county may request that the department certify a lesser level of
			 expenditures under the alternative method described in this rule.
(2) To meet the requirements of this
			 alternative method of certification, a county must submit a plan that describes
			 the actions the county will take to achieve adequacy of expenditures for the
			 county assessment and taxation program. The department will not certify any
			 plan submitted by a county that requires more than three tax years to comply
			 with ORS 308.232 and
			 308.234, ORS chapter 309 and
			 other laws requiring equality and uniformity in the system of property taxation
			 within the county.
(3) The plan
			 submitted by the county may include any combination of increased expenditures
			 or increased efficiencies that will lead to adequacy within the specified
			 duration of the plan.
(4)
			 Acceptance of the plan described in paragraph (2) of this rule is at the
			 discretion of the department. No plan will be accepted for which compliance is
			 conditioned only upon the county's future receipt of funding authority not in
			 existence at the time of submission of the plan.
Example
			 1: The department determines County A's assessment program is
			 inadequate because it fails to meet the minimum requirements under ORS
			 294.175. The department
			 determines that two appraisers are necessary to satisfy the minimum
			 requirements. Pursuant to a plan submitted under ORS
			 294.181, County A proposes to
			 add two appraisers beginning in December of the fiscal year, contingent on
			 passage of a local option tax levy in November to fund the positions. Because
			 the plan to fund the appraisers is contingent upon passing the local option tax
			 measure, it cannot be approved by the department.
Example 2: The department determines County
			 B's assessment program is inadequate because it fails to meet the minimum
			 requirements under ORS
			 294.175. County B submits a plan
			 under ORS 294.181 that agrees to add two
			 appraisers by January 1 of the first year of the plan. The department
			 determines that this will enable County B to achieve adequacy in the assessment
			 program by the midpoint of the second year of the plan. Accordingly, the
			 department certifies the expenditures presented by the county under the plan.
			 The county also proposes to add yet another appraiser (for a total of three) if
			 a local option tax measure passes in the first year of the plan. The addition
			 of the third appraiser is contingent upon passage of the local option tax, but
			 the plan to add two appraisers is not so conditioned. The fact that a local
			 option tax has been proposed to add staff or resources during the plan period
			 will not automatically disqualify the plan submitted by the county.