‘Eliminating the threat of central assessment will permit Amazon to continue to invest in Oregon.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
The state public policy manager for Amazon testified last week that the company is considering more than 10 new data centers in Oregon.
Amazon does have some apprehensions about Oregon’s “central assessment” provision, reports OregonLive.com:
The issue, known as “central assessment,” relates to how the state values telecommunications companies and utilities when it comes to levying property taxes. Under a 1973 law initially intended to apply to microwave towers, the state values a company’s “intangibles” as well as its physical property. That includes non-physical assets such as the value of a company’s brand.
Comcast fought in court for several years to overturn central assessment, but last fall the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in favor of Oregon counties who were fighting to hold onto $17 million in taxes paid by Comcast.
Lawmakers mulled possible limitations to the central assessment and planned a hearing for a pair of bills that will address this issue Monday.
