Counties, assessors and local governments urge support for HB 3,518 to boost CAFA funding

Supporters from counties, assessor and tax-collector associations, cities and special districts testified March 11 in a lengthy public hearing that House Bill 3,518 would stabilize funding for county Assessment and Taxation (A&T) offices and return omitted property and contested value back to local taxing districts.

“This bill revitalizes CAFA’s capacity to fund A&T across the state by taking the old funding mechanisms and indexing them to lost inflation,” Justin Lowe, testifying for the Association of Oregon Counties, told the committee. Lowe identified CAFA (the County Assessment Function Funding Assistance account) as a statewide program that produces uniformity and accuracy in property assessment and helps counties distribute property-tax revenue to cities, schools and special districts.

John Schafer, Umatilla County commissioner and president of the Association of Oregon Counties, said many counties are operating with delayed reappraisals and understaffed assessor offices. “We have properties that have not been appraised in 30 years,” Schafer said, and noted that some counties cannot timely add new construction to the tax roll as required by statute.

County assessors and tax collectors gave detailed estimates of potential returns on investment if CAFA funding…