How to Appeal Property Taxes in Multnomah County, Oregon (2026 Guide)

Direct answer: For the 2026 Multnomah County property tax cycle, your Property Values Appeals Board petition must be postmarked or delivered by Thursday, December 31, 2026. File the Oregon Property Value Appeals Board Real Property Petition, Form OR-B-RPP (150-310-063) with the Multnomah County Property Values Appeals Board by mail at PO Box 5007, Portland, OR 97208-5007 or in person at 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Suite 175, Portland, OR 97214; the fee is $30 per account.

How assessments work in Multnomah County

Multnomah County’s 2026 tax bills use property values determined as of January 1, 2026. Statements are mailed before October 25, taxes are due November 15, and value appeals run after statements are available through December 31. The appeal heard in early 2027 is about the current tax year value, not last year’s bill and not whether Portland-area taxes feel too high.

For a house, the number to understand first is Real Market Value (RMV): what the assessor estimates the property would sell for on the open market as of the assessment date. Multnomah County says its assessor uses physical inspections, statistical market-trend analysis, and comparisons of sale prices and characteristics of similar properties. You can look up your account, values, tax statement, tax history, property description, and levy code at MultcoPropTax.com using the guest login.

Oregon’s Measure 50 system means your taxes are usually not based on RMV alone. Your Maximum Assessed Value (MAV) generally rises by 3% a year unless an “exception” applies, such as new construction, major remodeling, subdivision, rezoning with changed use, or loss of an exemption. Your Assessed Value (AV) is the lower of RMV or MAV, and AV is the value generally multiplied by your levy-code tax rate.

Multnomah County then performs two tax calculations and uses the lower result: (1) AV times your levy-code tax rate, plus special assessments, or (2) Measure 5 limits based on RMV — $5 per $1,000 for education and $10 per $1,000 for general government — plus items outside those limits, such as certain bonds and special assessments. That is why a successful RMV appeal may still produce no refund if your RMV remains above MAV/AV or if Measure 5 compression changes the result.

Whether you should appeal

Appeal if you can prove the county’s January 1, 2026 value is too high. Good homeowner evidence in Multnomah County usually means one or more of these: a recent arm’s-length purchase of your property near January 1, 2026; a fee appraisal with an effective date near January 1; a listing history showing the property exposed to the market below the roll RMV; comparable sales near January 1 adjusted for location, size, quality, condition, and lot; contractor estimates for serious condition or structural issues that existed as of January 1; or evidence that an exception value from remodeling/new construction was overstated.

Do not file just because your bill rose more than 3%, your neighbor pays less, or you disagree with Portland, school, Metro, or bond tax rates. Multnomah County specifically says PVAB cannot set the tax you owe, consider hardship, treat a sharp one-year increase as its own reason, hear fairness-of-the-tax-system arguments, or consider ordinary lack of maintenance. Severe deferred maintenance and structural problems can matter, but you need documentation.

There do not appear to be official county-published homeowner success rates or median reductions on the Multnomah County/DOR appeal pages reviewed for this guide. Treat any private “success rate” claims skeptically unless they identify the tax year, property type, number of petitions, and whether they measure RMV reductions or actual tax savings.

A quick savings example: suppose your home is in Portland Levy Code Area 001, whose 2025-2026 certified “Total All Rates” is 26.9199 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. If your appeal merely lowers RMV from $650,000 to $600,000 while your AV remains $360,000, your tax savings are likely $0. But if your taxable value actually drops by $20,000 — for example, because RMV is reduced below the prior taxable AV/MAV limit — the rough savings before compression effects would be: $20,000 ÷ 1,000 × 26.9199 = $538.40. Use your own levy code and current bill; tax rates vary sharply across Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Corbett, Riverdale, and unincorporated areas.

Step-by-step how to file

1. Get your 2026 tax statement. You need the account number, map/tax lot, RMV, AV, property type, and levy code from the statement or MultcoPropTax.com.

2. Call or email before filing if the issue is unclear. For residential appraisal questions, Multnomah County lists 503-988-0078 and appraisalsupport@multco.us. General property-tax questions go to 503-988-2225 or propertytax@multco.us. This can save you a filing if the value is explainable or if your appeal would not lower taxes.

3. Use the correct form. Homeowners use Form OR-B-RPP, Oregon Property Value Appeals Board Real Property Petition, 150-310-063. Official URL: https://multco.us/file/real_property_appeal_petition-0/download. Instructions: https://www.oregon.gov/dor/forms/FormsPubs/form-or-b-rpp-instructions_310-063-1.pdf. If someone else will sign or appear for you, include Form OR-A-PVAB-R, Authorization to Represent—Property Value Appeals Board, 150-303-031: https://multco.us/file/authorization_to_represent_form_2025-2026/download. Multnomah County also provides a Comparable Sales Grid for Single Family Homes & 2-4 Plexes: https://multco.us/file/comparable_sales_grid_for_single_family_homes_%26_2-4_plexes/download.

4. Complete one petition per account. Attach a copy of the tax statement and copies of your evidence. On the petition, state both the county’s RMV/AV and the value you request. Be specific: “three adjusted sales support $575,000 RMV as of Jan. 1, 2026” is stronger than “Zillow says less.”

5. Choose oral or written-only review. On the form’s attendance section, check whether you or your representative will attend. If you check No, PVAB decides based on your written evidence.

6. Pay the fee. The filing fee is $30 per account, payable to Multnomah County. If the county receives the petition without the fee, it gives 20 days from notification to pay before dismissal.

7. File by an accepted method. Multnomah County accepts PVAB petitions by mail or in person only. Email and fax submissions are not accepted, and there is no county online appeal portal for these petitions. You may email pvab@multco.us only to request forms or ask procedural questions.

Mail to: Property Values Appeals Board, PO Box 5007, Portland, OR 97208-5007. In person: 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Suite 175, Portland, OR 97214. Your petition must be USPS-postmarked or delivered by December 31, 2026. A postage-meter imprint is not a USPS postmark.

What happens after

The appeal authority is the Multnomah County Property Values Appeals Board (PVAB), the county board for property value appeals. Board members are private citizens appointed by the Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners; they are not part of the Assessor’s Office and did not set your value.

For 2026 appeals, hearings begin in February 2027 and run through April 15, 2027. Multnomah County schedules residential hearings in 10-minute increments, Monday through Thursday, typically from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Multnomah Building, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Hearing notices are mailed about 5-10 days before the scheduled time, and the county says hearing times cannot be rescheduled. If you cannot attend after being scheduled, send a qualified representative with the authorization form.

At the hearing, the chair identifies the property, current value, and requested value. You then make your statement, describe your evidence, and answer questions — all within the 10-minute slot. Hearings with a petitioner or representative present are recorded. If you selected the written-only option, the board reviews the written record without your testimony.

PVAB hears the day’s testimony before deciding, usually during a decision session from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. You may observe but cannot add testimony then. The decision is not given by phone; a written board order is mailed to you or your representative within 8-10 business days after the hearing. If you disagree with a value decision, you generally may appeal to the Oregon Tax Court Magistrate Division within 30 days of the board order being mailed or delivered.

Local tips

Check your levy code before estimating savings. A Laurelhurst, Linnton, Gresham, Troutdale, Corbett, or Riverdale home can have a different total rate even inside the same county. The official rate sheet’s “Total All Rates” column is the starting point, but Measure 5 compression may make the actual savings different.

Focus evidence on January 1, 2026. A spring 2027 appraisal can still help only if it states a retrospective value as of January 1, 2026. A summer 2026 sale may help if market conditions were similar and you adjust for timing.

If you remodeled, separate “cost” from “market value.” Multnomah County notes that construction cost does not necessarily equal market value; for exception appeals, show permits, contractor invoices, before/after condition, and why the county’s added value is too high.

Check relief programs separately from appeals. Oregon has no statewide general homestead exemption based solely on owning and occupying a home, age, or income. But Multnomah County homeowners should check disabled veteran and surviving spouse exemptions, active-duty military exemption, senior deferral, disabled homeowner deferral, and, for qualifying new housing, HOLTE/MULTE/NPLTE programs. Deferral is not an appeal or exemption: the state pays the taxes, records a lien, and repayment is due later.

Finally, file early. A December 31 deadline is unforgiving, and Multnomah County uses the USPS postmark — not a private postage-meter date — to determine timeliness.