Sean C. Morgan
While Sweet Home’s combined tax rate increases this year, overall assessed property value in the city decreased and the City of Sweet Home faces a shortfall in anticipated revenue.
Every year, the city anticipates receiving less revenue than it levies in taxes because of delinquent taxes and 1990’s Measure Five compression.
Overall, tax rates within the City of Sweet Home combined are $21.77 up from $20.46 per $1,000 of property value.
In addition to the previously anticipated losses in revenues, the city faces shortfalls $90,000 at Sweet Home Police Department, $11,500 at the library and $18,000 in the general fund.
The city had anticipated, based on estimates from the assessor’s office, a total value of $267.2 million for property within the city limits, a $10 million increase in value. Instead, Sweet Home property decreased in value by about $2.6 million this year.
The new value means the general fund will receive less revenue based on the city’s permanent rate. It will also increase compression on the city’s local option levies for police and library service along with the county law levy.
Finance Director Pat Gray called the assessor’s office to find out why the city’s overall assessed value declined, she said. She learned that Sweet Home added no new value in the last calendar year, that real market value declined by $109,000 and personal property in Sweet Home dropped by $2.4 million with 80 percent of that decline directly attributable to the sale of cable infrastructure by AT&T to Comcast.
AT&T had been ninth on the city’s list of top-10 taxpayers. This year, it will not be on that list. The sale of Willamette Industries to Weyerhaeuser also included a decline in value, from $12.5 million to $9.7 million. Weyerhaeuser is the top taxpayer, $59,222 down from $75,019, within the city limits.
CenturyTel’s net assessed value also decreased from $22.2 million to $20.2 million while Northwest Natural’s value grew from $27.8 million to $29.5 million. CenturyTel pays the second most in taxes in Sweet Home, and Northwest Natural is fourth. Whittaker/Northwest Partners, assessed at $2.8 million, is second on the list.
Throughout Linn County, overall taxable value increased from $5.5 billion to $5.6 billion. Real property increased in value by $156 million while personal property decreased by $14.7 million to $193.1 million.
Gray told the Sweet Home City Council that the shortfall in revenue will mean cuts in spending.