Farm and Forest Deferrals

Farming in Polk County, Photographer: Linda Morrell

Farm Deferral

Many rural properties are eligible for farm use special assessment or deferral of some or all of their property if it is "used for a qualifying farm use." The purpose of this program is to provide a financial incentive to property owners, in the form of reduced property values, for keeping their land in agricultural production. These programs have a potential tax payback if the requirements discontinue to be met.

You may download an Application for Designation of Land as Farmland, and a Farm Use Income Questionnaire.

The State of Oregon offers additional information at Assessment of Farmland in an Exclusive Farm-Use Zone and at Assessment of Farmland Not in an Exclusive Farm-Use Zone.

Forestland Deferral

Many rural properties are eligible for designation of forestland special assessment or deferral if the property is "used for the predominant purpose of growing and harvesting trees of a marketable species." The purpose of this program is to provide a financial incentive to property owners, in the form of reduced property values, for keeping their land in timber production. This program has a potential tax payback if the requirements discontinue to be met.

Additional information is available from the State of Oregon Specially Assessed Forestland website.

You may download an Application for Designation of Land as Forestland.

If you have questions or wish to file an application, you can contact the Assessor's Office at (503) 623-8391 and ask for assistance with Forestland Deferral.

 

 

The Department of Revenue implemented a new rule effective August 2018. The new rule is in regards to how Additional Tax is calculated when a property is disqualified from a farm or forest related special assessment. The new rule is OAR 150-308-1500 states "to calculate the maximum assessed value (MAV) for the computation of the additional tax, multiply the real market value (RMV) of the special assessed land being disqualified for the earliest year in the lookback period by that year's appropriate change property ratio (CPR) for the classification of the disqualified property as if it would not have been specially assessed. For each subsequent year, calculate the MAV as if the property had not been specially assessed per ORS 308.146."

As of the 2020 tax year Polk County has adopted this rule change. All estimates of back tax calculations that were given prior to January 1, 2020 are null and void. Please be aware that there could be a significant value difference in previous back tax estimates due to this new rule change.

Please contact the Assessor's office with any questions.