Bill Text: OR SB751 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to taxation of centrally assessed property; prescribing an effective date.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Failed) 2011-06-30 - In committee upon adjournment. [SB751 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2011-SB751-Introduced.html

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     76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2011 Regular Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .

LC 1665

                         Senate Bill 751

Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND REVENUE

                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.

  Defines 'information services' to mean offering capability to
generate, acquire, store, transform, process, retrieve, utilize
or make available information through communications, including
electronic publishing.
  Exempts person from assessment of centrally assessed property
to extent that person provides information services to consumers
by means of agreements for telephone communication, data
transmission or broadband access services.
  Applies to property tax years beginning on or after July 1,
2009.
  Takes effect on 91st day following adjournment sine die.

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to taxation of centrally assessed property; creating new
  provisions; amending ORS 308.505 and 308.517; and prescribing
  an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 308.505 is amended to read:
  308.505. As used in ORS 308.505 to 308.665:
  (1) 'Car' or 'railcar' means a vehicle adapted to the rails of
a railroad.
  (2) 'Centrally assessed' means the assessment of property by
the Department of Revenue under ORS 308.505 to 308.665.
  (3) 'Communication' includes telephone communication and data
transmission services by whatever means provided.
   { +  (4) 'Information services' means offering the capability
to generate, acquire, store, transform, process, retrieve,
utilize or make available information through communications,
including electronic publishing. 'Information services' does not
mean the transmission between or among points specified by a
consumer of information of the consumer's choosing without change
in the form or content of the information. + }
    { - (4) - }   { + (5) + } 'Inland water' means all water or
waters within the State of Oregon, all interstate rivers touching
Oregon and all tidewaters extending to the ocean bars.
    { - (5) - }   { + (6) + } 'Interstate' means transit between
the State of Oregon and:
  (a) Another state;
  (b) A district, territory or possession of the United States;
or
  (c) A foreign country.
    { - (6) - }   { + (7) + } 'Large private railcar company'
means a private railcar company with personal property with a
real market value for the tax year that exceeds $1 million.
    { - (7) - }   { + (8) + } 'Locally assessed' means the
assessment of property for property tax purposes by the county
assessor that is not conducted under ORS 308.505 to 308.665.
    { - (8) - }   { + (9) + } 'Person,' 'company,' 'corporation'
or ' association' means any person, group of persons, whether
organized or unorganized, firm, joint stock company, association,
cooperative or mutual organization, people's utility district,
joint operating agency as defined in ORS 262.005, syndicate,
entity formed to partner or combine public and private interests,
partnership or corporation engaged in performing or maintaining
any business or service or in selling any commodity as set forth
in ORS 308.515, whether or not the activity is pursuant to any
franchise and whether or not the person or other entity or
combination of entities possesses characteristics of limited or
unlimited liability.
    { - (9) - }   { + (10) + } 'Property':
  (a) Means all property of any kind, whether real, personal,
tangible or intangible, that is used or held by a company as
owner, occupant, lessee or otherwise, for the performance or
maintenance of a business or service or for the sale of a
commodity, as described in ORS 308.515;
  (b) Includes, but is not limited to, the lands and buildings,
rights of way, roadbed, water powers, vehicles, cars, rolling
stock, tracks, office furniture, telephone and transmission
lines, poles, wires, conduits, switchboards, machinery,
appliances, appurtenances, docks, watercraft irrespective of the
place of registry or enrollment, merchandise, inventories, tools,
equipment, machinery, franchises and special franchises, work in
progress and all other goods or chattels; and
  (c) Does not include items of intangible property that
represent:
  (A) Claims on other property, including money at interest,
bonds, notes, claims, demands or any other evidence of
indebtedness, secured or unsecured; or
  (B) Any shares of stock in corporations, joint stock companies
or associations.
    { - (10) - }   { + (11) + } 'Property having situs in this
state' means all property, real and personal, of a company,
owned, leased, used, operated or occupied by it and situated
wholly within this state, and, as determined under ORS 308.550
and 308.640, the proportion of the movable, transitory or
migratory personal property owned, leased, used, operated or
occupied by a company, including but not limited to watercraft,
aircraft, rolling stock, vehicles and construction equipment, as
is used partly within and partly outside of this state.
    { - (11) - }   { + (12) + } 'Small private railcar company'
means a private railcar company with personal property with a
real market value for the tax year that does not exceed $1
million.
    { - (12) - }   { + (13) + } 'Transportation' means carrying,
conveying or moving passengers or property from one place to
another.
    { - (13) - }   { + (14) + } 'Vehicle' means any wheeled or
tracked device used in transportation under, on or in connection
with the physical surface of the earth.
  SECTION 2. ORS 308.517 is amended to read:
  308.517. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) { + , + }
 { - and - }  (3)  { +  and (5) + } of this section, the
Department of Revenue shall assess to the property user all
property owned, leased, rented, chartered or otherwise held for
or used by it in performing a business, service or sale of a
commodity enumerated in ORS 308.515.

  (2) Where any property owned, leased, rented, chartered or
otherwise assigned by an owner, lessor, lessee or user whose
property is otherwise subject to ORS 308.505 to 308.665 is
leased, rented, chartered or otherwise assigned for the use or
benefit of a company which has or thereby has property subject to
ORS 308.505 to 308.665, the department may assess the property to
either the owner, lessor, lessee or user.
  (3) Land or buildings that meet all of the following conditions
shall be assessed in accordance with law by the assessor of the
county in which such property is situated:
  (a) Situated outside of railroad rights of way or outside of
railroad station ground reservations;
  (b) Leased or rented by a lessor whose property is not subject
to ORS 308.505 to 308.665, to a company whose property is subject
to ORS 308.505 to 308.665; and
  (c) Used as or in connection with airport facilities, general
offices, ticket offices, business offices, warehouses, service
centers, relay stations, garages, central exchanges, moorage
grounds, or well, pump house or substations sites.
  (4) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, any
property leased or rented by a lessor whose property is not
subject to ORS 308.505 to 308.665, to a company whose property is
subject to ORS 308.505 to 308.665, shall be assessed, as
determined by the department, by the department or the assessor
of the county in which such property is situated.
   { +  (5) The Department of Revenue may not assess property to
a person under ORS 308.505 to 308.665 to the extent that the
person provides information services to consumers by means of
agreements for telephone communication, data transmission or
broadband access services entered into by the person and
companies described in ORS 308.515 (1). + }
    { - (5) - }   { + (6) + } All property not assessed by the
Department of Revenue shall be assessed in accordance with law by
the assessor of the county in which such property is situated.
  SECTION 3.  { + The amendments to ORS 308.505 and 308.517 by
sections 1 and 2 of this 2011 Act apply to property tax years
beginning on or after July 1, 2009. + }
  SECTION 4.  { + This 2011 Act takes effect on the 91st day
after the date on which the 2011 regular session of the
Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly adjourns sine die. + }
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