South Gilliam fire and city officials urge state fix after utility tax appeals reduce local revenue

Speakers from South Gilliam County urged the Gilliam County Court to pursue legislative and administrative remedies after a countywide distribution method for utility valuation appeal refunds reduced revenue for small taxing districts in the county’s south end.

“Last year we had $31,100 taken out of our account,” said Shannon Coback, executive secretary for the South Gilliam County Rural Fire Protection District, describing withheld tax distributions tied to appeals by Pacific Power and Avangrid. “This is taking money from us that we never got in the first place.”

Coback and Catherine Greiner, identified in the meeting as City Administrator of Condon, said appeals valued by the Oregon Department of Revenue are triggering a countywide distribution schedule under the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). Under that schedule the county is withholding a portion of annual tax receipts as a potential refund credit while an appeal remains open. Coback said the withheld amounts represent roughly 7% of her district’s budget this year and that insurance and other fixed costs make that loss painful for small districts that do not receive the original utility property tax revenue.

Greiner said the withheld sums have grown quickly: after an initial smaller withholding she cited a spike to about $20,000 in recent distributions and estimated that interest foregone over a protracted appeals process could amount to “about $72,000 in interest based on 3% annually” over 15 years, if appeals proceed that long. She said county staff told them the county intends to “make us whole” if the county ultimately prevails in an appeal but that there was no timeline and no clear mechanism to compensate districts for lost interest or the cash-flow impacts while appeals remain open.

Both speakers reviewed possible responses. Greiner said the distribution list that directs where a potential refund is held is required by ORS but that the statute appears to treat refund credits the same as current tax distributions; she asked whether the county could adopt separate distribution rules for refunds and for incoming tax receipts, or whether a legislative change would be needed. The speakers said they had discussed the issue with county staff and planned outreach to the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC), the League of Oregon Cities (LOC), the county assessor’s office and state legislators to seek clarification and possible change.

Coback and Greiner named specific local impacts: the South Gilliam fire district receives roughly $41,000 so far this year compared with about $47,000 last year; their insurance bill is about $19,000; and other small south-end taxing districts and the City of Arlington also lose purchasing power when large statewide refunds are pooled and held. They contrasted the effect on small districts to northern districts that receive larger absolute dollars from utilities and would be less affected by withheld credits.

County officials present recommended gathering more information from the assessor’s office and the Department of Revenue and building a coalition with other affected counties and associations before asking for statutory changes. Greiner said she had contacted AOC and a state senator’s office and planned additional outreach to revenue committee members and the Department of Revenue.

The discussion was recorded during the meeting’s public comment period and the court did not take immediate formal action on the matter. Speakers asked the court to direct staff to (1) request a formal explanation from the county assessor’s office about how the distribution schedule is being applied to refund credits, (2) gather data on whether neighboring counties are being similarly affected, and (3) coordinate outreach with AOC/LOC and with county lawmakers about possible statutory fixes or administrative clarifications.

Court members acknowledged the concern and said staff (including the assessor) would be asked to provide further detail for follow-up meetings.