Oregon Wind Farms Stuck With Assessments for Closed Tax Years

The Oregon Department of Revenue doesn’t have the authority to change its opinion of the value of centrally assessed property for closed tax years, the state’s high court ruled Thursday in a case about valuing property owned by wind farms.

Property owned by utility companies is assessed by the state rather than at the local level. For such centrally assessed property, the state can correct a valuation error if it was “changed on appeal,” but not if it is “an error in the department’s opinion,” Oregon Supreme Court Justice Stephen K. Bushong wrote for the unanimous court.

The ruling means ...