FACT CHECK: Taxes

Our current county officials have been spreading a lie that we pay the 2nd lowest property tax rate in the state. This is not true.

When each county was incorporated (Coos was founded in 1853) they determined what is now called the “permanent tax rate” which is the base tax rate that you pay on the assessed value of your property. By ranking counties according to that value alone, we have the 3rd lowest in the state at $1.08 per $1k of assessed value (Curry & Josephine are lower).

HOWEVER, that is not the final rate that you are billed each year. Not even close. On top of that permanent rate, you pay all the local bonds and levies such as Urban Renewal, School District tax, Library tax, Airport, Fire, etc. Based on an analysis published by the Oregon Department of Revenue in 2021 (the most recent report I could find) Coos County property owners pay an average ACTUAL tax rate of $13.23 per $1k of assessed value which places us 10th from the lowest out of 36 counties (Curry is lowest at $8.70 and Multnomah is the highest at $22.65).

I'd love to hear your thoughts... Do you think we pay a fair amount of taxes in Coos County? How has your tax bill changed over the past 5-10 years? Do you feel like you are getting the same value out of government services compared to 5-10 years ago?