OAR 150-294-0130: Alternative Method for Certification

(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. (5) The department will not certify expenditures under this alternative method of certification if the expenditures for the tax year for which the filing under ORS 294.175 was made, or for any subsequent year covered by the plan, do not demonstrate the county’s ability to maintain adequacy in all of the following functions: (a) Accurate appraisal of real property in accordance with OAR 150-308-0380; (b) Assessment of new construction, subdivisions, segregations, consolidations, omitted property, and other exceptions activity described in ORS 308.146; (c) Accurate processing of special assessment qualification applications and disqualifications, including but not limited to, farm, forest, and small tract forest programs; (d) Accurate processing of property tax exemption and deferral applications and disqualifications; (e) Accurate processing of personal property, real property, and combined property tax returns; (f) Providing explanation of the process of developing real market value to a court of jurisdiction for a property tax assessment under appeal; (g) Completing an annual ratio report and appraisal plan that meets the requirements of ORS 309.200, 308.234, and OAR 150-309-0230, 0240, and 0250; (h) Maintaining accurate property records by timely processing deeds, including address and name changes and property transfers; (i) Maintaining tax collection and distribution activity as prescribed by statute, including tax statement issuance, roll corrections, refunds, and processes related to delinquency notification, foreclosures, warrants, and bankruptcies; (j) Maintaining all cadastral functions for new and existing tax lots, including lot line adjustments, consolidations, creating new maps, and updating tax code boundary changes; (k) Maintaining accurate and current assessment and tax rolls; and (L) Completing roll summary reports as required by ORS 309.330. (6) The department will notify the county governing body if it determines the plan as submitted does not meet the requirements of this rule. The notice will contain an explanation of the reasons for the determination and describe specific items required to achieve adequacy. (7) If the department determines that the plan submitted by the county or subsequently modified during conference meets the requirements of this rule, the department will certify to the county governing body the expenditures for assessment and taxation at the level contained in the county’s estimate filed with the department pursuant to ORS 294.175 or as adjusted by the conference agreement. (8) A county operating under an accepted plan must certify to the department not less than 15 days prior to the close of each fiscal quarter that the county is in compliance with the accepted plan. The certification must be in the form of a written status report that provides details demonstrating the county’s compliance with the accepted plan. (9) The department will deny grant funds pursuant to ORS 294.178(5) for any quarter in which the department determines the county has failed to demonstrate compliance with the accepted plan.