Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The total property value for the city of Sweet Home increased by 8 percent from fiscal year 2004-05 to 2005-06.
Sweet Home property values reached $286,064,863, a gain of $20,540,863 over $265,523,918 in 2004-05.
Assessed property values are allowed to increase by only 3 percent per year by law.
Anything beyond that represents new construction, remodeling and property sales, Sweet Home Finance Director Pat Gray said.
From 2002-03 to 2003-04, Sweet Home’s values decreased from $257 million to $255 million. From 2003-04 to 2004-05, property values increased to $266 million.
The loss in property value was largely attributable to the sale of Willamette Industries to Weyerhaeuser and the sale of cable services by AT&T to Comcast, according to city officials.
“We had less compression,” Gray said. “It didn’t bring us out of compression.”
Compression is tax revenue over the caps set by 1990’s Measure Five. General government can tax $10 per $1,000 of valuation. That $10 limit is divided among all taxing districts on each property. Tax rates above the cap are lowered on temporary local option levies first and then on permanent rates. Locally, Sweet Home Police Department, the library and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office operate on local option levies and experience compression.
Gray budgeted $223,000 for loss of tax revenues due to compression for 2005-06, Gray said. Actual compression for the year is about $237,000. The actual compression decreased from last year by about $13,000.
The missed projection on compression is offset by incoming delinquent payments, Gray said.
“Our delinquencies are coming in better offsetting compression projections,” she said.
Gray said she had anticipated lower delinquency revenues.
Delinquencies refer to unpaid property taxes. Taxpayers have three years to pay their taxes without risking their property.
Sometimes property owners put off paying their taxes for three years and then start paying, Gray said. That’s when the delinquency payments may rise.
“We’re in the ballpark,” Gray said. The city is within $15,000 to $20,000 of where it expected to be.
Next year, 2006-07, the city will probably need to continue backfilling the Police Department budget, which took a big hit the year Sweet Home had negative growth. Since then, the city has backfilled the department’s local option levy from the general fund.
This year, the city is transferring $75,000 from the general fund to police services.
Last year, the city had anticipated a $200,000 transfer, Gray said, but the department saved money and avoided filling an authorized police officer position.
It is still way too early to judge what transfer will be needed in 2006-07, Gray said. City officials will not be able to make that estimate until department heads begin presenting their budget requests, which may show more needs and wants. In addition, Linn County’s law enforcement levy will affect local compression amounts.
The city’s value grew this year, Gray said, but that means more people and demand for services; and for Sweet Home, growth has been residential.
Residential water connections increased from 2,171 to 2,255 over 2004-05, Gray said, while commercial connections decreased from 292 to 286.
Sewer connections increased from 2,507 to 2,579, and commercial sewer connections decreased from 243 to 239.
The city issued 444 residential construction permits, valued at $7.7 million, during 2004-05 and 75 commercial permits, valued at $677,000. In 2003-04, the city issued 335 residential permits, $5 million, and 97 commercial permits, $9 million, including the high school. In 2003, the city issued 342 permits, $3.7 million, and 89 commercial permits, $1.6 million.
The number of annual residential permits ranged in the 200s from 1999 to 2001. Commercial permits ranged from 37 to 70 in the same period.
Residential growth is continuing to keep the Community Development Department busy.
“I can’t keep up with the building permits,” said Community Development Director Carol Lewis. Subdivision lots are being created in record numbers, and they’re filling up.
“We’re starting to pick up the Springfield market — lots are getting harder to find in Springfield,” Lewis said. She points to Mimosa Circle off 49th, the site of the old rodeo grounds, where about half the lots have building permits.
Three other subdivisions have infrastructure going in, Lewis said, and some of the older subdivisions, like Green River Road off Clark Mill, have started filling up.
Developers are building “spec” homes now, something rarely seen in the past in Sweet Home, Lewis said. In the past, people have generally purchased empty lots and had homes built.
Even with spec houses going in, “I don’t see a lot of new houses sitting empty,” Lewis said. The values of the new homes are higher too, almost all site-built the opposite of recent years when mostly manufactured homes have been sited.
The growth began in late 2003 and has carried over to this year, Lewis said. People are still partitioning lots into two or three lots at the same rates as usual, seven to 10 per year; but subdivisions are way above historic levels.
In 1997, Sweet Home had just six new lots created by subdivision. In 2000, it had 15.
Sweet Home had 98 new lots created in 2004 and is already over 100 for 2005.
Top 10 taxpayers
in Sweet Home for 2005-06
1 Weyerhaeuser — $104,078.54
2 Whittaker/Northwest Partners —24,247.43
3 Northwest Natural — 22,952.69
4 Mountain Shadows Enterprises —22,200.38
5 Centurytel of Oregon — 20,045.89
6 Western States Land Reliance Trust — 17,789.87
7 Preserve at Salmon Run LLC — 16,195.64
8 Mid-Valley Healthcare Inc. — 14,899.52
9 South Santiam Properties — 14,601.00
10 Linmar Industries (now Ankmar) — 14,049.73