(1)(a) Subject to ORS 311.670, an individual, or two or more individuals jointly, may elect to defer the property taxes on their homestead by filing a claim for deferral with the county assessor after January 1 and on or before April 15 of the first year in which deferral is claimed if:
(A) The individual, or, in the case of two or more individuals filing a claim jointly, each individual, is 62 years of age or older on April 15 of the year in which the claim is filed; or
(B) The individual is a person with a disability on April 15 of the year in which the claim is filed. In the case of individuals filing a claim jointly, only one individual need be a person with a disability in order to make the election.
(b) In order to make the election described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the individual must have, or in the case of two or more individuals filing a claim jointly, all of the individuals together must have household income, as defined in ORS 310.630, for the calendar year immediately preceding the calendar year in which the claim is filed of less than $32,000.
(c) The county assessor shall forward each claim filed under this subsection to the Department of Revenue which shall determine if the property is eligible for deferral.
(2) When the taxpayer elects to defer property taxes for any year by filing a claim for deferral under subsection (1) of this section, it shall have the effect of:
(a) Deferring the payment of the property taxes levied on the homestead for the fiscal year beginning on July 1 of such year.
(b) Continuing the deferral of the payment by the taxpayer of any property taxes deferred under ORS 311.666 to 311.701 for previous years which have not become delinquent under ORS 311.686.
(c) Continuing the deferral of the payment by the taxpayer of any future property taxes for as long as the provisions of ORS 311.670 are met.
(3) If a guardian or conservator has been appointed for an individual otherwise qualified to obtain deferral of taxes under ORS 311.666 to 311.701, the guardian or conservator may act for such individual in complying with the provisions of ORS 311.666 to 311.701.
(4) If a trustee of an inter vivos trust which was created by and is revocable by an individual, who is both the trustor and a beneficiary of the trust and who is otherwise qualified to obtain a deferral of taxes under ORS 311.666 to 311.701, owns the fee simple estate under a recorded instrument of sale, the trustee may act for the individual in complying with the provisions of ORS 311.666 to 311.701.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a spouse of an individual to file a claim jointly with the individual even though the spouse may be eligible to claim the deferral jointly with the individual.
(6) Any person aggrieved by the denial of a claim for deferral of homestead property taxes or disqualification from deferral of homestead property taxes may appeal in the manner provided by ORS 305.404 to 305.560.
(7)(a) For each tax year beginning on or after July 1, 2002, the Department of Revenue shall recompute the maximum household income that may be incurred under an allowable claim for deferral under subsection (1)(b) of this section. The computation shall be as follows:
(A) Divide the average U.S. City Average Consumer Price Index for the first six months of the current calendar year by the average U.S. City Average Consumer Price Index for the first six months of 2001.
(B) Recompute the maximum household income by multiplying $32,000 by the appropriate indexing factor determined as provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
(b) As used in this subsection, “U.S. City Average Consumer Price Index” means the U.S. City Average Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (All Items) as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor.
(c) If any change in the maximum household income determined under paragraph (a) of this subsection is not a multiple of $500, the increase shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $500. [1963 c.569 §§8, 22; 1975 c.372 §1; 1977 c.160 §2; 1981 c.853 §1; 1983 c.550 §2; 1987 c.512 §5; 1989 c.948 §14; 1995 c.79 §149; 1995 c.650 §78; 1995 c.803 §1; 1999 c.1097 §2; 2001 c.753 §25; 2007 c.70 §78]
Section: Previous 311.655 311.656 311.657 311.658 311.660 311.662 311.666 311.668 311.670 311.672 311.673 311.674 311.675 311.676 311.677 NextLast modified: August 7, 2008