Linn County likely to forgive property taxes for flood victims

Linn County Supervisors will likely vote today to forgive property taxes for flood victims for as long as they were deprived of the use of their property.

The final decision on tax forgiveness, or abatement, will come at a 10 a.m. meeting at the supervisors' offices at Westdale Mall.

At least three supervisors indicated Tuesday they support tax abatement for all residential, commercial and industrial property. Flood victims will have to apply for an abatement over the next 30 to 45 days and demonstrate under penalty of perjury how long the flood kept them from moving home or reopening for business.

“It's the morally right thing to do,” Supervisor Brent Oleson said. “People pay taxes on property that they enjoy, and when your enjoyment of it is interrupted, it's fundamentally unfair for you to pay taxes on it.”

Property owners who were delinquent before the flood or who were reimbursed by insurance for their flood damage likely won't get an abatement.

Several details must be sorted out, including whether supervisors will extend tax forgiveness to taxes owed on land as well. Only Oleson is sure he will vote to abate taxes on land.

Much work will need to be done handling applications, verifying paperwork and calculating each applicant's abatement.

“This will be an administrative challenge,” Supervisor Linda Langston said.

Langston and Supervisor Lu Barron said they favor tax abatements only for those whose property will be demolished or bought out as a result of the flood, but they did not commit to that position Tuesday and would be in the minority if they pursued it.

Tax bills due Sept. 1 cover the period that started less than a month after the flood, from July to December 2008. A decision on abatements was hastened when tax bills were mailed to residents in August, and a committee of city, county and school district officials has worked for weeks to find a solution.

The impact of tax abatements will be felt most acutely by city and school district budgets, though under state law the decision falls to county supervisors.

A dollar figure for how much abatement will cost the city and school district will not be available for some time, since it depends on how many people apply. The school board supports abatement for flood victims, as does a consensus of council members.