A key question regarding the $140 million The Dalles High School bond measure appearing on the Nov. 7 ballot has been how the tax would personally affect community members.
If passed, the bond would build a new high school to increase capacity and safety and increase/enhance educational spaces. It would also pay for updated athletic facilities and basic repairs to the original high school building. The bond be repaid over 30 years and is estimated to have a tax rate of $2.73 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Wasco County Tax Assessor Jill Amery said the most straight-forward way to analyze individual cost is using the tax calculator available on the Vote Yes TDHS website (links below).
“The D21 bond committee does have a website where you can go put in your assessed value and it even shows you the copy of the tax statement and exactly what number to use, and you can put that number in and that calculates what the tax will be for you,” Amery said.
According to Amery, the bond would not increase the North Wasco County D21 permanent levy of 5.2399 but would be listed separately on the tax assessment as a bond.
An “important distinction” to make, according to Dennis Morgan, principal broker at Coper West Real Estate, is that that assessed value and market value are not the same.
“Almost invariably, the assessed value is well below the quote, unquote real market value,” Morgan said.
According to the Oregon Department of Revenue (ODR), a property’s maximum assessed value (MAV), is considered to be “the taxable value limit established for each property” as opposed to a property’s real market value (RMV), which is considered to be “the price your property would sell for in a transaction between a willing buyer and a willing seller on Jan. 1, the assessment date for the tax year.” Because of Measure 50, passed by voters in 1997, assessed value on a property may not exceed real market value.
Property owners can find the assessed value on their property on their tax statements or they can utilize the Geographic Information System (GIS) map available on the Wasco County website to find their property account number. From there, they can utilize the Ascend web link on Wasco County’s assessment and tax office page by entering the account number and address.
In an example, the value of a reporter’s home located on the west side of town was listed online at $395,400 but was shown to have an assessed value of $193,857. According to the Vote Yes TDHS tax calculator, the monthly tax rate for the home is estimated at $44 per month, or $529 per year.
Community members can also utilize those methods to determine which tax code area they live in, which would allow them to see which bonds their properties are currently being taxed on. According to the tax assessor’s office, other local bonds currently in place include the Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue (MCFR) bond, which runs through tax year 2033-34, the North Wasco County Parks & Rec bond, with the last year being 2029-30, and the Columbia Gorge College Bond, with 2025-26 being its last tax year. Should the D21 school bond measure be passed, it would take effect for the 2024-25 tax year.
When asked what kind of impact a new school building would have on the local housing market, Morgan said he believes it would have a positive effect. “Having done this as long as I have one of the first questions I get … because most people have a family, ‘How are the schools?’” Morgan said. “A vibrant community needs a good education system.”
Amery noted that the district has done well reaching out and getting factual information regarding the taxing related to the bond, and that the assessor’s office is open to answer further questions.
“They’ve got a really good website with all the information,” Amery said. “It’s been really great to see factual information getting out so that people can make really good, educated votes, and that’s what we’re here for, so we’re happy to do it, happy to answer questions anytime.”
For more information regarding the North Wasco County School Bond Measure, go to the Bond FAQ page on the NWCSD website, or voteyestdhs.org.
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