Property Tax Exemptions in Multnomah County

These are the categories we looked at
CLICK These for DETAILS
(see below for cautions)

Number

Code

Category

Exempt Amount*

184

22

CORE AREA MULTI-UNIT

163,420,010

163

23

RESIDENTIAL REHAB PROPERTY

28,690,530

945

24

HISTORIC PROPERTY

603,743,370

13

45

ENTERPRISE ZONE

83,732,270

1721

47

 NEW HOUSING DISTRESSED NH

148,326,100

4

48

STRATEGIC KEY INVESTMENT 

295,113,110

0

49

VERTICAL HOUSING DEVEL ***

0

90

55

 TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVEL

50,739,370

3112

Grand Total

1,373,764,760

Additional, Development related,
 Exempt Properties
(**)

305

10

OWNED by HOUSING AUTHORITY 

280,519,470

OWNED by PDC

130,319,600

19

50

 HOUSING AUTHORITY PARTNERSHIP

58,943,410

*The exempt amount is the amount of the property's assessed value that is not subject to tax. It is not the lost tax. The lost tax is a complex calculation beyond our resources. Our guess, based on our own property tax being 2.12% of assessed value, is that it is somewhere around 2% of the exempt amount, or about $27.5 million total. About $6 million of this lost tax is at a single (and only) address in the "STRATEGIC KEY INVESTMENT " category.

These exemptions are authorized by state law.

Many buildings, including condos, show multiple exemptions. Presumably one for each unit. In some other cases the exemption may be split between different entities with an interest in the property. Many exempt properties pay some tax, for instance, on the raw land value.

There is a list of all properties, in that category, linked from the details pages above.

We strongly suggest you obtain the original data and do their own analysis. Email webmaster@saveportland.com for a copy of the original data.

We obtained two sets of data from Multnomah county:
We first got a list of all properties with a property tax exemption. Each entry had a code for the reason for the exemption. We added up all of the entries for those codes listed above, and produced the number and dollar amounts for each item. To double check our work, we sent the totals to Multnomah county and asked if they could check them. They then supplied a summary spreadsheet (apparently a "standard" item - we converted to HTML), containing  four of the codes that we had added up. . The data for those four codes supplied by the county agree within 25% with our calculations. We think that this error is due to the summary data being older than the data in the list of all exempt properties.

**These are a few  properties that some people might argue should be paying taxes. Some might belong to the city and be candidates for selling off to raise money.

***The state has approved granting tax exemption for building hight. So far, there are no properties in this category, but we list it here as a reminder of state policy (and someone assigned it a code #).

Here is a list of all exemption categories that we know about.
Note that some, such as federal & state properties, are not taxable. Most people would agree that some others, such as war vets & widows, are deserving of exemptions

1 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
10 HOUSING AUTHORITY
11 LITERARY, BENEVOLENT, CHARITABLE ORGS.
12 FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
13 CHURCH, RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
14 BURIAL GROUNDS, CREM
15 PUBLIC LIBRARIES
16 //DELETE
17 WAR VETS & WIDOWS SERVICE CONNECTED
18 WAR VETS & WIDOWS
19 OTHER MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS
2 STATE
21 FARM LABOR/DAY CARE
22 CORE AREA MULTI-UNIT
23 RESIDENTIAL REHAB PROPERTY
24 HISTORIC PROPERTY
24GE //DELETE
25 DOWNZONING
26 CANCELLED ASSESSMENT, NEW CONSTRUCTION
27 NONPROFIT PUBLIC PARKS CORPORATIONS
28 LEASE/PURCHASE-NONPROFIT OR PUBLIC BODY
29 LEASE/NON-PROFIT TO NON-PROFIT
3 COUNTY
30 RELIGIOUS SCHOOL/STUDENT
37 NEW HOUSING HBO
39 RIPARIAN LANDS
4 CITIES AND TOWNS
40 //DELETE
41 NONPROFIT WATER ASSOCIATIONS
42 PORT OF PORTLAND IN LIEU ONLY
43 IND APPR OF TRNG TRUST
44 COP LOW INCOME RENTAL HOUSING
45 ENTERPRISE ZONE
47 NEW HOUSING DISTRESSED NH
48 STRATEGIC KEY INVESTMENT
49 VERTICAL HOUSING DEVEL
5 SCHOOL DISTRICTS
50 HOUSING AUTHORITY PARTNERSHIP
55 TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVEL
6 WATER DISTRICT
62 RETIREMENT HOMES
64 POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY
7 IRRIGATION DISTRICTS
8 DRAINAGE DISTRICTS
9 PORT OF PORTLAND AND TRIMET
DV DISABLED VETERAN-ADJUSTED AMOUNT
DV1 DISABLED VETERAN
DV1P DISABLED VETERAN-PHYS CERT
DV1S DISABLED VETERAN-SPOUSE
DV2 DISABLED VETERAN-SERV CONNECTD
DV2S DISABLED VETERAN-SERV SPOUSE
DVM DISABLED VETERAN-MULTIPLE
DVW //DELETE
IV INSUFFICIENT VALUE
NT //DELETE