PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Property tax bills are going out soon, and collections are expected to be down in parts of Central Oregon, where housing values have crashed hard.
The Oregonian reports some counties and cities foresee a decline in revenue for the first time since 1997.
Deschutes County expects collections to be down about 2 percent, for example. By contrast, the paper reports (http://bit.ly/paPNnH ) that assessors in the Portland area expect revenue to be up 2 percent to 3 percent.
Even after the crash in real estate values, taxes in much of the state have gone up. Two 1990s measures do limit the growth of property taxes when values skyrocket, but they also allow room for increases when values fall.
