About the MRE
Road District
All property owners within a Rural Road
District such as ours are assessed a separate Rural Road
District tax – it appears as a line item part of the annual
Benton County Property tax total.
Our rural Road District has a 2.91% maximum
tax rate ceiling, which was in effect and was
collected virtually every year until 2009. During that time,
projected increased budget needs supported the reasoning that
raising funds through maximum annual tax assessment was the best
way to pay for road widening and paving. The Road District
Board voted to collect a lower 2.206 % tax rate beginning in
Fiscal Years 2009 and continued that rate into 2010.
This annual tax assessment has been one
source of money for ongoing road improvements and maintenance.
The MRE Road District has also borrowed money (loans) and paid
prevailing rates of loan interest to address expenses.
The tax rate can be set at any level at or
below the 2.91% ceiling by a majority vote of current Road
Commissioners on the Board. Announcement of plans for the tax
rate level imposed occurs at the annual Budget Hearing. As
adopted, Benton County tax assessor’s office is notified to
assess the determined tax rate on the annual property tax
statement.
A majority of property owners within the
MRE Road District could also vote to impose a higher tax rate
than the ceiling rate of 2.91% - but this can only occur after
voter approval through an election offered to all
affected property owners. This is called a Special Option
Levy. Neither the MRE Rural Road District Commissioners and/or
any currently serving Budget Committee can create a higher tax
rate without voter approval. Our voter district is all
property owners within the boundaries of the Mary’s River
Estates Rural Road District.
The State of Oregon requires an annual
Budget Hearing: a presentation of our Budget by the governing
body, which is the three Road District Commissioners. This
assembly is mandated to comply with the State requirement of
ongoing representation of all affected taxpayers, financial due
diligence and formal approval by people currently acting as part
of the three member Rural Road District Board of Commissioners.
Mary’s River Estates Road District has chosen annually to
appoint a Budget Officer and three Budget Committee members,
though this is not a requirement for Road Districts in Oregon.
This expanded group met in 2009 and 2010 to address budget
concerns in open meetings previous to the Budget Hearing.
Ideally every year the Rural
Road District Budget Committee projections for upcoming road
project expenses offer insight into use of the road tax money.
Whether there is a need for collection of taxes at the current
or possibly lower rates, within the currently approved ceiling,
can be an active part of this annual process. |
