Opinion ID: 2734122
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Property Tax Appeal Process

Text: In Oregon, property taxes are assessed for, among other things, real property, including any improvements on that real property. The taxes—referred to as “ad valorem” taxes—are based on the value of the property and improvements. The state’s property tax system largely relies on Cite as 356 Or 164 (2014) 167 county tax assessors to value property subject to taxation, calculate the tax, collect the tax, and distribute the revenue to taxing districts. By law, the county assessor is required to value the land and any improvements separately. ORS 308.215(1)(a)(E), (F) (as renumbered by the legislature in 2012; Or Laws 2012, ch 30, § 1). A taxpayer who is dissatisfied with the county assessor’s valuation may appeal the assessor’s decision through four successive levels of review, each of which the statutes refer to as an “appeal.” The first level of review is (in most cases) before a county board of property tax appeals (BOPTA). See ORS 309.100 (authorizing taxpayers to appeal to BOPTA); ORS 305.275(3) (party cannot appeal to Tax Court if party can appeal to a BOPTA).1 The relevant statutes refer to review by the county BOPTA as an “appeal.” See ORS 305.275(3) (appeal to Magistrate Division is not allowed “[i]f a taxpayer may appeal to the board of property tax appeals”). Indeed, the name of the reviewing tribunal is the “board of property tax appeals.” ORS 309.020(1)(a) (emphasis added). A party dissatisfied with a decision of a county BOPTA may seek review by the Tax Court. ORS 305.275(3). The Tax Court, however, consists of two separate divisions: the Magistrate Division and the Regular Division. See ORS 305.404 (reference to “Tax Court” in statutes “may include either the regular division or the magistrate division of the Oregon Tax Court, or both, or the judge or judges of the [T]ax [C]ourt or its magistrates or a combination”); ORS 305.498(1) (“The magistrate division is established in the Oregon Tax Court.”); Dept. of Rev. v. Froman, 14 OTR 543, 546 (1999) (“The Oregon Tax Court is one court with two divisions.”). The Magistrate Division is not a court of record; proceedings before it are informal and are not subject to the rules of evidence. See ORS 305.430(1) (“Proceedings before the magistrate division shall not be reported.”); ORS 1 Not all property tax appeals go to a BOPTA. A taxpayer dissatisfied with the assessment of primary or secondary industrial property may appeal directly to the Tax Court. ORS 305.403; see ORS 309.100 (right to appeal to BOPTA does not include appeals governed by ORS 305.403). 168 Village at Main Street Phase II v. Dept. of Rev. 305.501(4)(a) (subject to Tax Court rules, magistrate “is not bound by common law or statutory rules of evidence or by technical or formal rules of procedure,” but “may conduct the hearing in any manner that will achieve substantial justice”); see also Froman, 14 OTR at 546-47 (“The Magistrate Division is intended by the legislature to be informal and user friendly.”). The Regular Division, in contrast, is a court of record with general jurisdiction. ORS 305.405(1). It has the same powers as a circuit court. ORS 305.405(2), (3). Proceedings before the Regular Division are “original, independent proceedings” that are “tried    de novo.” ORS 305.425(1). The Regular Division is to “consider all properly admitted evidence and reach its own independent conclusions” in any given case. Reed v. Dept. of Rev., 310 Or 260, 265, 798 P2d 235 (1990). Ordinarily, a party seeking review of a county BOPTA decision must first appeal to the Magistrate Division. ORS 305.501(1).2 The relevant statutes refer to review of a BOPTA decision by the Magistrate Division as an “appeal.” ORS 305.275(1), (3) (authorizing “appeal   to the mag-