6 February 2018
Representative Buehler:
The Deschutes County Assessor reports at this link that within the city of Bend (County Code Area 101) there are 87 acres of Designated Forestland. Investigating this fact reveals specific properties totaling 55 acres of Designated Forestland within the city. (location of 32 acres are unknown) It also reveals obvious, substantial, and inappropriate property tax avoidance that deserves examination and correction to assure that all citizens of the city pay equitable property taxes that support both the City of Bend and Deschutes County.
I ask that you review this matter and introduce appropriate legislation for its correction. Specifically; the exclusion of property within a city from eligibility for Designated Forestland assessment because the intended purpose of thid designation is protecting forestland from the pressures of urban growth. The following analysis applies to the city of Bend and Designated Forestland within city limits. In accordance with applicable ORS and OAR this situation is not exclusive to Bend but may exist in any Oregon city. Examination of other Oregon county assessment reports for city areas would reveal it.
I submit the following analysis for your review of the fairness of a few Bend property owners taking advantage of a tax assessment that was never the intention of legislation to extend into cities. It was intended to protect forestland outside cities. It incentivizes large acreage city tax lots with an extreme reduction in property taxes. A mandatory 2 acre minimum is required for Designated Forestland approval in addition to a residence, if any of 1 acre. A 3 acre homesite property in Bend is an expensive luxury. If an owner's true intent is to grow and harvest timber on their city residential property for commercial sale then they should be free to do that or any other permissible residential zoned property use but without an extremely substantial inappropriate tax reduction incentive. Planting, growing and selling trees for timber from small acreage in a city is not a profitable venture. Cost of harvest is greater than return and leaves stumps and slash for removal. Not worth it. Bend has its own regulations for city trees that are aimed at preserving them.
In your current position you represent all citizens of Bend and in the future perhaps serve all citizens of Oregon. I look forward to your reply stating a position on Designated Foresland assessment for property in the city of Bend or any other city in Oregon. I support the introduction of legislation to prohibit this assessment for residential zoned city properties. What owners of these properties do not pay in county property taxes either the rest of county residents make up as an addition to their taxes or, depending on how the accounting is done, Deschutes County and Bend get that much less in tax revenue and everyone loses. Either way it is private self interest gain at public expense over the long period of time it takes to grow a tree to maturity for commercial harvest.
As a voter I expect that my representative, senator and governor will always support public interest in the face of any and all blatant narrow self interest attempts to gain personal benefit at public expense.
respectfully/
The Deschutes County Assessor reports at this link that within the city of Bend (County Code Area 101) there are 87 acres of Designated Forestland. Investigating this fact reveals specific properties totaling 55 acres of Designated Forestland within the city. (location of 32 acres are unknown) It also reveals obvious, substantial, and inappropriate property tax avoidance that deserves examination and correction to assure that all citizens of the city pay equitable property taxes that support both the City of Bend and Deschutes County.
I ask that you review this matter and introduce appropriate legislation for its correction. Specifically; the exclusion of property within a city from eligibility for Designated Forestland assessment because the intended purpose of thid designation is protecting forestland from the pressures of urban growth. The following analysis applies to the city of Bend and Designated Forestland within city limits. In accordance with applicable ORS and OAR this situation is not exclusive to Bend but may exist in any Oregon city. Examination of other Oregon county assessment reports for city areas would reveal it.
I submit the following analysis for your review of the fairness of a few Bend property owners taking advantage of a tax assessment that was never the intention of legislation to extend into cities. It was intended to protect forestland outside cities. It incentivizes large acreage city tax lots with an extreme reduction in property taxes. A mandatory 2 acre minimum is required for Designated Forestland approval in addition to a residence, if any of 1 acre. A 3 acre homesite property in Bend is an expensive luxury. If an owner's true intent is to grow and harvest timber on their city residential property for commercial sale then they should be free to do that or any other permissible residential zoned property use but without an extremely substantial inappropriate tax reduction incentive. Planting, growing and selling trees for timber from small acreage in a city is not a profitable venture. Cost of harvest is greater than return and leaves stumps and slash for removal. Not worth it. Bend has its own regulations for city trees that are aimed at preserving them.
In your current position you represent all citizens of Bend and in the future perhaps serve all citizens of Oregon. I look forward to your reply stating a position on Designated Foresland assessment for property in the city of Bend or any other city in Oregon. I support the introduction of legislation to prohibit this assessment for residential zoned city properties. What owners of these properties do not pay in county property taxes either the rest of county residents make up as an addition to their taxes or, depending on how the accounting is done, Deschutes County and Bend get that much less in tax revenue and everyone loses. Either way it is private self interest gain at public expense over the long period of time it takes to grow a tree to maturity for commercial harvest.
As a voter I expect that my representative, senator and governor will always support public interest in the face of any and all blatant narrow self interest attempts to gain personal benefit at public expense.
respectfully/
Name
Bend, Oregon
Bend, Oregon
email
cell
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NOTE: if tables lose alignment in this email, please refer to attached Excel document.
Designated Forestland (DF) in the City of Bend — Analysis
Twelve of a total of 36 properties at this link are located on Bachelor View Rd, a residential zoned neighborhood in Bend having a combined total of 43.4 acres of Designated Forestland. In accordance with this Department of Revenue link the acreage is assigned a property tax assessment value of $77.07 per acre 2017-18. Owners of these properties are entitled to this Designated Forestland property tax assessment by submission and assessor approval of this Application for Designation as Forestland form 150.309-024 (rev. 03/17) as required by this link: ORS 321.358.
Among the various requirements of this Application the applicant must own least 2 contiguous acres of land and answer this question: “Is the predominant purpose of this land to grow and harvest trees of a marketable species?” If the answer is “no" the application is not approved. When approved by the assessor the applicant’s property tax assessment in accordance with Oregon Forestland Values for 2017 -2018 (Eastern Oregon) is an MSAV of $77.07 per acre regardless of whether the land is located in the most remote part of Eastern Oregon or in a residential zoned neighborhood with large acreage and expensive residences in Bend.
The "Forestland Owner" signs this Application Declaration:
"As owner of the above described land, I indicate by my signature that I am aware of the potential tax liability involved when the land ceases to be designated forestland. I declare under the penalties of false swearing (ORS 305.990(4) that I have examined this application (and any accompanying documents), and to the best of my knowledge, it is true, correct and complete.”
When the Application is approved there is no requirement that any trees already exist on the property, only a required management plan for planting and growing them to maturity for market sale. The assessment carries a tax liability of 5 years at the property tax rate that would otherwise apply. That liability to be invoked for reasons specified in the Application. Some owners have held the same Designated Forestland property for at least 25 years.
The following is a single example of the property tax implications of a Designated Forestland assessment on three residential zoned bare land lots under the same owner located on Bachelor View Rd. in Bend.
TABLE 1
Property
|
Acres
|
RMV
|
Assessed
|
Tax
2017-18
|
DF since
|
2.12
|
$807,520
|
$2,163.00
|
$52.30
|
1993
| |
3.23
|
$796,430
|
$248.00
|
$22.60
|
2004
| |
2.89
|
$796,430
|
$222.00
|
$22.19
|
2004
| |
Totals:
|
8.24
|
$2,400,380
|
$2,633.00
|
$97.11
|
Tax History for these properties:
The following bare land lot shares a property line with the above lots on Bachelor View Rd. but does not have an associated Designated Forestland assessment of $77.07 per acre. It is assessed at a comparable (but low) assessment value for properties in this area without Designated Forestland classification .
TABLE 2
| Property | Acres | RMV | Assessed | Tax 2017-18: |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/244200 | 0.99 | $280,610 | $141,200 (50% of RMV) | $2,190.95 |
If the three example properties were assessed approximately as the above contiguous lot then their assessed value would be estimated at about $1,200,000.00 (50% of RMV). Applying tax at $15.00 per thousand would result in a 2017-18 county property tax of $18,000.00 instead of $97.11. Note that these three example properties in the city of Bend have been taxed at the Designated Forestland rate since at least 1993 and 2004. Tax savings over that period are roughly estimated to be at least $200,000 now after a 5 year deferred tax payback.
The Designated Forestland assessment example of 3 properties reveals an astounding property tax reduction. The basis for this assessment of $77.07 per acre is that the owner has declared in their Application under penalties of false swearing their intent to grow timber for commercial sale. These are overhead map views of the same properties displaying the degree of progress toward eventual timber harvest for sale and profit at maturity. Not much progress toward profit over 25 years!
https://dial.deschutes.org/
https://dial.deschutes.org/
https://dial.deschutes.org/
The real profit of the Designated Forestland intent to grow trees is not for timber but for more than $200,000 in tax savings over the period of ownership!
The following is an analysis of 9 remaining properties on Bachelor View Rd. having Designated Forestland (DF) acreage assessed at $77.07 per acre. It is to be noted that unlike the straight forward assessment of bare land DF, properties with a dwelling have an assessment of DF acres at $77.07 combined with dwelling site acreage and residence assessment at normal values. The reduction in property tax for DF acreage is the same as in the previous 3 lot example but is not as readily evident due to the combining of DF assessment and non DF assessment for tax computation. However it becomes apparent in the disparity between RMV and Assessed value.
TABLE 3 DF Structure RMV
| Property | Acres | Acres | RMV Land | Structure | Total RMV | Value | % AV of RMV | Tax 2017-2018 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/117550 | 6.9 | 1.09 | $765,180 | $701,120 | $1,466,300 | $551,031 | 37.60% | $8,616.38 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/117551 | 4.36 | 1 | $1,221,720 | $784,000 | $2,005,720 | $671,895 | 33.50% | $10.491.77 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/117552 | 4.81 | 1 | $964,680 | $368.93 | $1,333,610 | $410,330 | 30.10% | $6,433.17 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/117569 | 3.72 | 1 (lot) | $739,380 | $0 | $739,380 | $136,396 | 18.40% | $2,135.16 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/162127 | 2.6 | 2.4 | $697,650 | $449,360 | $1,147,010 | $569,230 | 49.60% | $8,898,078 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/189042 | 2.5 | 1 | $129,400 | $788,340 | $917,740 | $694,842 | 75.70% | $10,874.83 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/200999 | 1.74 | 1 | $2,030,810 | $1,194,440 | $3,225,250 | $972,034 | 30.10% | $15,148.93* |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/205941 | 5.57 | 1 | $6,300,810 | $499,710 | $6,800,520 | $687,488 | 10.10% | $10,740.43 ** |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/208548 | 2.96 | 1 | $535,100 | $1,458,560 | $1,993,650 | $989,168 | 49.60% | $15,414.78 |
| *(3.88 acres open space) | ||||||||
| **(6.86 acres open space) |
Total Designated Forestland acres for the combined 12 properties is 43.4 acres. They are assessed at $77.07 per acre as Designated Forestland but would otherwise be assessed at approximately $200,000 per acre and pay tax at an approximate rate of about $15 per thousand.
43.4 acres at $77.07 per acre = $3,345.00 X $15 per thousand = $50.17
43.4 acres at $200,000 per acre = $8,680,000.00 X 15 per thousand = $130,200.00
While precise computations may come up with amount differences the ball park difference is so great that any computational errors or estimates would be inconsequential. Over the period of years that these properties have been assessed on their Designated Forestland acreage hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax payments have not gone into the tax revenue of Deschutes County.
Subsequent to this analysis I discovered the following three additional properties in Bend in a residential zoned area on McClain Drive, Bend that have Designated Forestland acreage.
43.4 acres at $200,000 per acre = $8,680,000.00 X 15 per thousand = $130,200.00
While precise computations may come up with amount differences the ball park difference is so great that any computational errors or estimates would be inconsequential. Over the period of years that these properties have been assessed on their Designated Forestland acreage hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax payments have not gone into the tax revenue of Deschutes County.
Subsequent to this analysis I discovered the following three additional properties in Bend in a residential zoned area on McClain Drive, Bend that have Designated Forestland acreage.
TABLE 4
| Property | DF Acres | Residence Acres | RMV Land | RMV Structure | Total RMV | Assessed Value | % AV of RMV | Tax 2017-18 |
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/244558 | 3.58 | 1 | $630,860 | $593,510 | $1,224,370 | $534,425 | 43.60% | $8,292.47 |
| Map view:https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/InteractiveMap/244558 | ||||||||
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/169808 | 1.99 | 1 | $1,327,120 | $781,820 | $2,108,990 | $729,583 | 35% | $11,386.90 |
| Map View: https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/InteractiveMap/169808 | ||||||||
| Note: fails to qualify for the 2 acre minimum requirement | ||||||||
| https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/Index/183021 | 8.22 | 0 | $493,510 | $0 | $493,510 | $633.00 | >1% | $28.00 |
| Map view: https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/InteractiveMap/183021 | ||||||||
| Note the tax history since 1996: https://dial.deschutes.org/Real/TaxInformation/183021 | ||||||||
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