Oregon Special Assessment Program

Oregon has a unique program available to National Register property owners, and contributing historic property owners within National Register Historic Districts.

If you are planning to renovate or restore your home and are planning to invest money into it, this program will freeze your property taxes at their current rate for 15 years.

In return for this benefit, owners agree to maintain the property in good condition, carry out an agreed upon program of rehabilitation, seek SHPO design review and approval prior to making changes to the property.

The typical savings for a property owner depends upon the amount of money invested in the rehabilitation of the building. It also makes a difference when the money is invested into the home or historic building. The earlier the investment is made, the more money is saved.

An Example

For example, a homeowner purchases an historic home which has an assessed value of $100,000 with annual taxes on the property of $1,600 a year.

If this homeowner plans on making $50,000 in improvements on the property, it will increase his property assessment to $150,000 and if his tax rate remains at 1.6%, his taxes will increase to $2,400 a year.

If the property is placed on the Special Assessment program, the taxes will be frozen at the original rate for 15 years. Therefore, the property owner can expect to save approximately $12,000 in taxes over this fifteen year period.

If this owner plans on making $100,000 in improvements to this property, bringing the assessed value from $100,000 to $200,000, the owner will save $24,000 in taxes over this fifteen year period.

Keep in mind that this example does not take into account other market factors including the potential annual 3% increase in RMV of property which can occur without any significant improvements to the property. Therefore the tax savings to the property owner could potentially be greater.*

*Ms. Fitzgerald is not a professional tax advisor. Please consult your CPA for expert advice on property tax information and property investments.