The Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill is contesting its assessed property value.

Clatsop County and other local taxing districts could be looking at a loss of more than $1 million as one of the county’s largest employers seeks an adjustment to its property taxes.

In December, the Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill filed a complaint with the Magistrate Division of the Oregon Tax Court, arguing that the facility’s assessed property value exceeded fair market value. The appeal, which came after a 15-year strategic investment program agreement had expired, requests a roughly 33% reduction in the market value assessed on the 2023-2024 tax roll.

The strategic investment program is a state-run program that provides companies with an alternate taxing structure for large capital investments. After the agreement with the Wauna Mill ended in 2022, the facility’s taxes increased by around $3 million for the 2023-2024 tax year.

Kristi Ward, Georgia-Pacific’s public affairs manager, clarified that the company is not seeking to reduce pre-2023 taxes — just to reduce the increase, which the company feels does not reflect current market value. Any taxpayer may appeal if they believe their property assessment value doesn’t accurately reflect market value.

Property taxes from the Wauna Mill are collected by the county each year and distributed to dozens of local taxing districts, including school districts, rural fire protection districts and other jurisdictions. Georgia-Pacific is requesting a reduction of roughly $1.8 million from those taxes.

Under Oregon law, when a value of more than $1 million is appealed, the county assessor is required to address risks by determining a dollar amount for a potential refund credit and depositing it into an investment account.

“There is no other option. We have to set it aside,” Suzanne Johnson, the county’s assessment and taxation director, said at a county Board of Commissioners work session Nov. 6.

Once Georgia-Pacific pays its taxes, Johnson said the county will need to set aside $1.8 million of the money received into a potential refund credit account. They’ll be required to do so each tax year until a decision is made on the appeal. If the appeal is approved, they would issue the ordered refund amount along with a commensurate share of the investment interest earned.

Commissioner Courtney Bangs raised concerns over the combined impact of the appeal and other recent decisions, like the Oregon Board of Forestry’s advancement of the state’s habitat conservation plan, on the county and local districts’ finances.

Other commissioners also expressed frustration, especially in light of a decision earlier this year to approve a new strategic investment program agreement at the Wauna Mill set to begin in 2026.

“We want to be fair in our administration of tax law,” Commissioner Lianne Thompson said. “On the other hand, this is difficult, cumbersome, a negative development for every taxing jurisdiction in Clatsop County.”

The county’s portion of the roughly $1.8 million is about $200,000. Moving forward, Assistant County Manager Monica Steele told The Astorian the county will continue to monitor expenditures of discretionary funds and make adjustments for the potential shortfalls.

“It’s not something that we want to do, but have to do,” Steele said at the Nov. 6 meeting. “And we hear the concerns and have made notes to really scrutinize the situation in the future.”

Because the Wauna Mill’s assessed property value is set by the state, the process and timeline for the appeal are also determined by the state. At this point, it’s unclear exactly when a decision will be made.

“We apologize for the uncertainty as we work through this process and we certainly value the work that the tax districts do; however, we also have a responsibility to our employees and the community to make our facility as competitive as possible for future investments for the mill’s long-term viability,” Ward told The Astorian in an email.