Corrections underway for some manufactured home tax bills

For Immediate Release: Monday, March 25, 2019

During the course of normal business operations on March 11, 2019, the Washington County Department of Assessment and Taxation discovered a clerical error which occurred in September 2018, when tax bills were being calculated.

A mass adjustment error incorrectly reduced values on approximately 860 manufactured homes, or roughly 17 percent of the total number of manufactured home accounts. These manufactured homes are primarily located outside of cities. The error resulted in incorrect tax calculations for approximately 400 accounts. The aggregate tax impact on all affected accounts is estimated between $50,000 to $60,000. Exact amounts will be determined as each individual account is reviewed and corrected. For the remaining 460 accounts, correcting the value will not affect the taxes.

The Department of Assessment and Taxation will follow the steps outlined in the Oregon Revised Statutes for correcting such errors. Generally, the procedure addresses the required change in property value and then any resulting changes in property taxes owed:

• If the correction to property value is equal to or greater than $1,000, the Department of Assessment and Taxation will mail a “Notice of Intent” (NOI) letter to inform the taxpayer of the value increase. Corrections of less than $1000 will be noted in the account but the property owner will not be notified and there is no additional tax owed.
• The NOI letter will provide information for affected property owners, including an opportunity to attend a hearing if they wish to contest the adjusted value of their property.
• The tax roll will be corrected. In the case of contested accounts, the prevailing values from the hearing will be used for the correction.
• An additional letter will be sent to the taxpayer once the changes in their property tax have been calculated from the corrected property value. Taxpayers have 90 days to appeal the new property value to the Oregon Tax Court.
• Any increase in taxes would be added to the November 2019 tax bill. Taxpayers have the option of prepaying the additional amount or may choose from the standard payment options:
  • Pay the total tax bill on November 15, 2019 and receive a 3% discount;
  • Pay two-thirds on November 15, 2019 plus one-third on February 17, 2020 and receive a 2% discount; or
  • Pay three equal installments due on November 15, 2019, February 17, 2020 and May 15, 2020.

The Department of Assessment and Taxation sincerely regrets this error and any inconvenience this may cause. Due to the significant number of accounts which must be reviewed, it will take a number of weeks for all of the affected property owners to receive their NOI letter. In the meantime, a list of affected property tax accounts is available online. The list is sorted by city, and then by street address within each city.

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