Property Tax Collection – How To Read Your Deschutes County Property Tax Statement

What color is your tax statement?

Green statements indicates that no lender has requested information and the property owner is responsible for paying the bill.

A yellow statement indicates one of the two things:

The property owner is receiving a Senior or Disabled Tax Deferral in which the Oregon Department of Revenue will pay all or part of the property tax.

Or our records indicate a lender has requested your information and will be making your payment.

Taxpayers are urged to check with their mortgage company if they believe their current arrangement is not reflected by the color of the tax statement. This has been an area of confusion in the past years.

Important dates to consider:

• Late payments lose the discount, and the tax begins accruing interest after the due date.
• In Oregon, property is valued each year as of January 1.
• The fiscal tax year runs from July 1 through June 30.
• Property taxes are mailed no later than October 25 and payment is due November 15.  The dates at the top of your statement reflect the fiscal tax year for the property taxes imposed.

Roll type: The property "roll type" is printed at the top of the statement. You will see one of the following descriptions: "Real Property", "Manufactured Structure", "Utility", or "Personal Property". 

Property Description: Identifies certain characteristics of your property (when applicable) by:

• Code:  Tax levy code that defines the list of taxing districts for your property.
• Map:  Represents the location of your property by township, range, section and tax lot as per the Assessors' Maps.
• Legal:  Some properties may be identified by their legal description if it is a lot and block in a subdivision.
• Situs: The physical address of the property
• Account No:  Property Tax Account number. 

Current tax year detail:
Your tax statement shows the taxes collected for each of the districts in which your property is located. Each district collects a permanent tax rate for ongoing services, plus any additional taxes that may be approved by the voters.  These taxes are shown on your statement as Local Option Levies (LOL) or Bond Levies.

• A. Educational Taxes:  Assessed for Central Oregon Community College, your property's Educational Service District and K-12 school district.
• B. General Government Taxes: Paid to cities, regional government, county and special districts (water, sewer, fire, etc).
• C. Bond Taxes: Finance capital improvements such as school buildings, parks, or public works projects that have been authorized by voters.

Values:

• Real Market Value (RMV) is the amount in cash that could reasonably be expected to be paid by an informed buyer to an informed seller.
• Assessed Value (AV) is the total (combined land and structures) amount of value used to impose property taxes. If you are currently receiving a Veteran's Exemption, it will be noted in this section.
• Delinquent Taxes Any prior year's tax remaining unpaid will be listed just above your current year total tax due on the front, right hand side of the statement. Delinquent amounts that will be subject to foreclosure, if not paid by May 15 the following year, will be indicated with an asterisk (*). Payments will be applied to the oldest tax year first.

An informational flyer is included with each tax statement to be used as a guide for a better understanding of the property tax statement, payment options, and other programs associated with the Oregon Property Tax System.

Appeals, delinquency, foreclosure you can learn more here  

Still have questions? Check out Deschutes County's frequently asked questions page.