Methodology

The Oregonian/OregonLive analyzed 2014-15 tax records for all single family homes in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, obtained through Oregon’s public records law. To determine an individual property’s savings under Measure 50, we calculated what that property’s tax bill would be if taxes were based on real market value instead of assessed value. (We kept in place separate tax limitations imposed by Measure 5, approved by voters in 1990.) The difference between what each property owner pays now and what they’d pay without Measure 50 is the homeowner’s savings.

We then totaled the Measure 50 savings for all properties in a given county and redistributed it proportionately based on real market value. Some property owners would pay more under that scenario; they’re getting greater benefit as things stand now. Most properties would pay less; they’re paying disproportionately more under the current system. The percentage of tax “losers” varies from 53 percent in Washington County to 58 percent in Multnomah County.

As an additional test of our findings, we calculated a simple ratio of assessed value to real market value for each property and for the metro area as a whole. We found that ratio was higher than average for most properties, meaning once again that a minority of homeowners are seeing the greatest benefit from Oregon’s property tax limitations.