Sean C. Morgan
Although most real market values declined again this year, the city of Sweet Home expects to receive slightly more than it budgeted in property taxes this year thanks to an increase in the property values of utilities that offset the devaluation.
School District 55 will likely receive more revenue than it had anticipated in the local option levy imposed to fund the swimming pool.
Overall compression increased from 31 percent to 33 percent inside the Sweet Home city limits, said city Finance Director Pat Gray.
Taxes that are not imposed because of limitations on property taxes are called “compression.” The limits are $10 per $1,000 of real market valuation for general government and $5 per $1,000 of real market valuation for education.
The combined tax rate for property owners in the city of Sweet Home is $22.8035 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, the highest rate in Linn County.
That tax rate is applied to assessed value. The resulting tax is then compared to the real market value of a property and must be less than a combined $15 per $1,000. Any taxes higher than the limits are not levied.
Albany has a combined tax rate of $19.0587 per $1,000, while Lebanon has a combined rate of $21.7228 per $1,000. Combined rates around Sweet Home range from about $12 to $20 per $1,000, with most at less than $13 per $1,000.
Inside the city limits, the police levy will receive nearly $9,500 more than the budgeted figure of nearly $1.4 million. The library levy will receive $1,200 more on a $177,000 budget; and the city’s general fund will receive about $18,000 more on a $467,000 budget.
Real market values for real property in Sweet Home declined from $413 million to $404 million. Personal property values decreased from $8.2 million to $8.15 million. Manufactured structures decreased from $8.4 million to $7.9 million. The total overall value of Sweet Home is $446.3 million, up from $446 million.
Utility property values, including property owned by Pacific Power, CenturyLink, Northwest Natural and Comcast, increased from $15 million to $26.4 million, offsetting decreases the city could have seen in tax revenues.
“We’re not going backwards,” Gray said. “We’re happy to hold steady. We’re still going to be conservative. We’re still not going to spend anything we don’t have to.”
Gray doesn’t anticipate seeing utility property values increasing again next year though, she said.
Last year, when property tax information was released by the county, city officials had to scramble to backfill the Police Department budget when property values and tax revenues declined. This year, compression was below budgeted parameters.
The police levy is compressed by $803,000, while the library levy is compressed by $103,000.
The School District will receive an estimated $101,000 to $104,000 from the swimming pool local option levy. The district had budgeted $90,000 from the levy approved by voters in May.
The additional revenue will help pay for pool expenses.
The district had budgeted $125,000 for operational costs, which does not include utility and maintenance costs because they are shared with the rest of the district’s operations.
The district had expected to help pay for the pool, said Business Manager Kevin Strong. If the pool had closed, the district would still have incurred costs to maintain the mothballed pool.
“By receiving additional funding from the local option levy, it will reduce the funds the district will have to contribute,” Strong said. “We appreciate the community’s support to keep the swimming pool open.”