Fire tax put on hold, GT 4/11/06

Rebecca Barrett, Corvallis Gazette-Times (original source )

Local property owners recently notified that they would have to pay new taxes to the state Department of Forestry for forest protection will receive a follow-up letter this week.

In a letter sent Monday to affected landowners, district forester Steve Laam with the Oregon Department of Forestry said a decision has been made not to proceed with adding properties at this time.

The decision comes after about 2,000 Corvallis and Benton County residents who weren’t previously assessed for the forest protection tax were notified that they were being added to the assessment.

In most cases, the assessment would have amounted to about $56 a year. Most of the properties that would have been added to the tax list were in subdivisions near Lewisburg and on the southern edge of Corvallis.

State law requires that lands that are included in the forest protection system should be part of a "complete and coordinated forest protection system.”

"The decision not to proceed at this time has been made in order to give the department an opportunity to review the authorities and procedures it utilizes in making the determination of which lands that system should include," Laam wrote.

Revenue from the tax goes to the state emergency fund that pays to fight wildfires.

However, the criteria used to determine which properties are eligible to be taxed needs clarification, Laam said. That process will involve the Legislature and could take a couple years, Laam said.

State Rep. Sara Gelser applauded the decision to hold off adding new properties to the forest tax rolls. The Corvallis Democrat said she received many calls and letters from constituents concerned about the tax and organized a town hall with Laam to discuss the tax.

"People were very frustrated about the assessment at the meeting, but I appreciated the constructive conversation and Mr. Laam’s openness to hearing the concerns raised by property owners," Gelser said Monday in a news release.

Gelser plans to work with the Department of Forestry on making statutory changes to make the taxation process equitable and avoid duplication of service.

"The statutory changes would clarify the authorities and procedures for making the determination of which lands should be included in the assessment," Gelser said.

Many of the objections to the tax were from people who felt that it amounted to a duplication of service between the local fire department and the state Department of Forestry.