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What is the St. Helens URA?
If you live inside St. Helens city limits, you may have noticed a line on your property tax statement called the St. Helens URA.
What does URA stand for?
Urban Renewal Agency
Does the URA increase your property taxes?
No!
What is the URA for?
URA funds are used for St. Helens economic and community development projects that are already identified in an adopted plan. Projects include improving or expanding roads, upgrading water and sewer systems, improving park systems, and building other infrastructure improvements that wouldn’t be possible to construct without this funding. These projects will help improve the livability and safety of the community, and in the long-term, bring living-wage jobs to St. Helens and help increase the overall tax base of our community. Learn more at https://www.sthelensoregon.gov/urban.
I can see the extra money on my property tax statement, so how is the URA not increasing the amount of tax dollars I pay?
The Columbia County Finance and Taxation Department determines your property tax amount each year. By law, they are allowed to increase your property taxes up to three percent each year. Normally, this increase is shared across all the taxing districts you pay your property taxes to (schools, fire department, county government, city government, the Port, 9-1-1 communications, etc.). When an urban renewal agency exists, instead of the yearly tax increase being shared between all the taxing districts that it would normally go to, it is instead given to the urban renewal agency to help fund needed infrastructure improvements. Your property taxes would continue to increase the same amount each year with or without the urban renewal agency existing. The only difference is where the money is being directed.
Published October 25, 2022
