While Marion and Polk counties' home values skyrocket, property taxes increase slightly
While the real market value of most homes in Marion and Polk counties rose sharply in 2022, most people are only going to see a minimum increase on their property taxes this year.
The real market value of homes in Marion County over the past year went up 26.7%, to $32.3 billion. The real market value of Polk County homes went up 22%, to $15.6 billion.
Real market value is the value the county assessor believes the property would sell for.
Marion County Tax Assessor Tom Rohlfing said in a release that the increase in real market value was due to new subdivisions, new construction and the increase in home values and land in the past year.
Due to Measure 5 and Measure 50 limitations, property taxes can rise by no more than 3% each year unless there are changes in a taxing district's bond repayment requirements or new levies.
So in cities like Salem, property taxes will rise by 3% while the real market values rose by an average of 28%.
Residents of Stayton will see the largest increase in property taxes in either county, and it’s the second large increase in property taxes in the city in as many years.
Taxes will increase about 9% in the city, due largely to an operations levy passed in November 2021 that expanded staffing of paid firefighters to 24/7. A year ago, taxes in Stayton went up 5% after voters passed operations levies to fund parks, pool and library operations.
In Hubbard, property taxes are going up 4% due to a fire district bond, and in Donald, taxes are going up 4% due to a municipal bond to fund additional police services.
Schools, churches and government buildings are exempt from paying property taxes.
Unique trends in the Santiam Canyon
While real market values on homes in all cities went up, those in the Santiam Canyon went up the most in Marion County.
The real market value in Idanha went up the most, shooting up 53% to $135,500 from $88,756 a year earlier. Those in Detroit (49%), Mill City (45%) and Gates (44%) rose, too.
Property taxes in Detroit, Gates, Idanha and Mill City will only rise 2% this year, lower than the state-mandated maximum.
That’s due to new construction as wildfire survivors rebuild or restore their homes.
But due to bills passed by the state Legislature in 2021, counties are collecting less on properties damaged by wildfires.
While the real market value of properties in most cities in the Willamette Valley went up by single digits from 2020 to 2021, real market value in those Santiam Canyon Cities went down that year.
2023 Property tax rates
Tax statements in Marion County were mailed Oct. 14. The statements will be mailed Oct. 21 in Polk County, assessor Valerie Pantoine said. Payments in both counties are due Nov. 15.
Here are the tax rate, average yearly taxes for next year, and percent change in taxes from the previous year for cities in both counties:
Aumsville: 15.5%, $2,615, 2%
Aurora: 16.3%, $4,656, 3%
Dallas: 14%, $2,912, 3.3%
Detroit: 14.9%, $2,133, 2%
Donald: 12.2%, $2,108, 4%
Falls City: 12.9%, $1,411, 5.3%
Gates: 14.0%, $1,921, 2%
Gervais: 19.2%, $3,271, 3%
Hubbard: 15.3%, $3,081, 4%
Idanha: 16.2%, $642, 2%
Independence: 18.1%, $3,355, 1.5%
Jefferson: 14.6%, $2,226, 3%
Keizer: 16.5%, $3,273, 3%
Mill City: 17.1%, $2,509, 2%
Monmouth: 16.9%, $3,591, 1.1%
Mt. Angel: 17.3%, $3,376, 2%
St. Paul: 14.6%, $3,607, 3%
Salem: 19.6%, $4,724, 3%
Scotts Mills: 13.2%, $2,080, 3%
Silverton: 16.7%, $4,136, 3%
Stayton: 16.2%, $3,293, 9%
Sublimity: 12.6%, $3,399, 3%
Turner: 15.5%, $3,742, 3%
West Salem (Polk County): 18.8%, $4,699, 3.1%
Willamina: 15.2%, $1,938, 2.9%
Woodburn: 19.9%, $3,715, 3%
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: While home values skyrocket, property taxes increase slightly
