If you are a property owner, you’re likely familiar with property taxes. For those who aren’t, property tax is paid annually by property owners, including individuals and legal entities such as businesses, and is an important source of revenue for more than 1,200 local taxing districts in Oregon. 

Property taxes rely on county assessment and taxation offices, in our case Washington County, to value the property, calculate and collect the tax, and distribute the money to the appropriate cities and special districts. Property subject to taxation in Oregon includes all privately-owned real property (e.g., land, buildings, and fixed machinery and equipment), manufactured homes, and personal property used in a business valued over $15,500.

Property owners in North Plains currently pay a total combined property tax rate of 15.4832 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. Other agencies, including Washington County and local public schools, also have their own tax rates that are included in the full property tax assessment that is reflected in annual property tax statements provided by Washington County Assessment and Taxation each November. Of this total combined property tax, North Plains property owners pay $2.17 per $1,000 toward the permanent City (local) levy. 

North Plains’ local permanent property tax rate is the second-lowest among all cities in Washington County. Unlike most cities, North Plains currently does not have a local option property tax levy to boost specific services, such as police or fire. All other peer cities but Banks have higher permanent City levies. Five other cities also have a local option levy approved by voters in those cities to temporarily raise additional taxes to fund operational needs. See graph at the bottom of this page for a comparison of western washington county cities' permanent and local option property tax amounts per $1,000 assessed value.

For the City of North Plains, property taxes accounted for 39% of the General Fund for Fiscal Year 2020-21 (ending June 30, 2021). Taxable assessed values within the City have continued to grow since 2008 due to both new construction as well as assessed value growth, which is limited to 3% annually under Oregon’s Measure 50.

For more information on local property taxes, visit the Washington County Assessment and Taxation website, or access Washington County’s 2020 Summary of Assessment and Tax Roll report.

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