County's list of top property taxpayers doesn't change much

Oct. 26—Baker County homeowners aren't alone in seeing larger increases in their property tax bills this year compared with the recent past.

Some of the utilities and other companies that are the county's biggest property taxpayers have also had relatively large increases.

Idaho Power Company has been the county's biggest property taxpayer for many years.

The Boise company's tax bill this year is $2,124,179, up 6% from last year.

The combined tax bill for the top 10 property taxpayers in the county is about $6.28 million — 23.5% of the county's total of $26.67 million.

There are notable differences between how property values, and thus tax bills, are calculated for utilities and other large companies, as compared with homes, said Kerry Savage, Baker County assessor.

Values for homes are primarily based on recent transaction prices, Savage said.

The assessor's office does those calculations.

For utilities, however, the Oregon Department of Revenue sets the assessed value, and the figure is based not solely on the property itself, but it also factors in the company's sales, Savage said.

These taxpayers, which includes transportation companies such as Union Pacific Railroad, utilities such as Idaho Power, and industrial firms such as Ash Grove Cement Co. and Marvin Wood Products, are known as "centrally assessed companies," Savage said.

In common with the way homes are assessed, a major addition to a centrally assessed company's operation, such as a new building, will increase the assessed value and thus the tax bill, Savage said.

The county's list of top 10 property taxpayers hasn't changed much over the past several years.

One exception is the number two spot.

This year, Ash Grove Cement Co., which owns the cement plant near Durkee, moves from third on the list to second, with a tax bill of $899,724. That's an increase of 19% from last year, when Ash Grove had the third-highest tax bill.

Last year's number two taxpayer, Union Pacific Railroad, dropped to third, with a tax bill of $882,862, up 4% from the previous year.