Chapter 957 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

HB 2045

Relating to taxation.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. Sections 2, 3 and 6 of this 1999 Act are added to and made a part of ORS chapter 307.

SECTION 2. The Legislative Assembly finds and declares that:

(1) The public policy of this state is to facilitate the transition of older logging equipment to newer equipment designed and manufactured to be as environmentally sensitive as current technology can provide, consistent with the need to match the equipment to the specifics of the site being harvested.

(2) Personal property taxes paid on logging equipment act as a disincentive to a transition to environmentally sensitive technology, because older equipment has a lower assessed value and therefore generates a correspondingly reduced property tax liability. In contrast, newer equipment, the use of which benefits the environment more than the use of older equipment, has a higher assessed value and a correspondingly higher property tax liability.

(3) A property tax incentive is a means of facilitating the transition to newer, environmentally sensitive equipment and accomplishing the declared public policy.

SECTION 3. (1) Environmentally sensitive logging equipment is exempt from ad valorem property taxation.

(2) As used in this section:

(a) "Environmentally sensitive logging equipment" means logging equipment that was originally manufactured not more than eight years preceding the assessment date for the tax year for which exemption under this section is claimed.

(b) "Logging equipment" means machinery and equipment:

(A) Used in logging or forest management operations involving timber harvest, including the felling, bucking, yarding, loading or utilization of timber, logs or wood fiber in the forest, or used in reforestation, forest vegetation restoration, site preparation, vegetation control, stand and tree improvement or thinning;

(B) That is specifically designed for activities related to water quality or fish and wildlife habitat protection in the forest; or

(C) Consisting of excavators used in logging road construction, maintenance, reconstruction or improvements, including the closing or obliterating of existing forest roads.

(c) "Logging equipment" does not include:

(A) Equipment used in nonforest applications for more than 20 percent of the tax year, as measured by the operating hours of the equipment.

(B) Equipment used in the manufacturing or milling of forest products.

(C) Power saws, hand tools, blocks or pulleys that are not a part of the equipment, rigging, shop equipment or support equipment.

(D) Logging equipment that is exempt from tax under section 6 of this 1999 Act.

SECTION 4. Section 3 of this 1999 Act applies to tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2000, and before July 1, 2008.

SECTION 5. (1) Notwithstanding section 3 of this 1999 Act, environmentally sensitive logging equipment that qualifies for the exemption under section 3 of this 1999 Act for any tax year beginning on or after July 1, 2000, and before July 1, 2006, shall qualify for the exemption for at least five tax years if the equipment continues to meet the definition of logging equipment under section 3 of this 1999 Act during that period.

(2) This section does not apply to tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2008.

SECTION 6. Logging equipment consisting of a skyline yarder and carriage in the form of a mobile tower or swing yarder that is capable of full log suspension during inhaul is exempt from ad valorem property taxation.

SECTION 7. Section 6 of this 1999 Act applies to tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2000, and before July 1, 2008.

SECTION 8. (1) As used in this section, "gas station" includes a filling station, service station, garage or any other place where gasoline is sold for use in motor vehicles.

(2) The owner or operator of a gas station shall post, in a manner visible to customers, the following information:

(a) The amount of the price per gallon that is federal tax;

(b) The amount of the price per gallon that is state tax;

(c) The amount of the price per gallon that is local tax; and

(d) The total amount of federal, state and local taxes per gallon.

(3) The Department of Transportation shall furnish the information described in subsection (2) of this section to each gas station in the state.

Approved by the Governor August 17, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State August 18, 1999

Effective date October 23, 1999

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