Hillsboro: Tax Bills up 4.9% for County’s Typical Homes as Most Market Values Fall
- Property tax bills rose 4.9% for each of the 11 typical Hillsboro homes Washington County chose for its 2026 comparison, even though the county's market value estimate fell for nine of them.
- Countywide, the roughly 210,000 statements add up to $1.834 billion, up 5.28% or $92 million from last year, according to the county's Oct.
- The release does not say how much of that growth is in Hillsboro, where the City Council voted 6-0 on Oct.
Property tax bills rose 4.9% for each of the 11 typical Hillsboro homes Washington County chose for its 2026 comparison, even though the county’s market value estimate fell for nine of them. The county said statements would be mailed Oct. 16–20, and the first payment is due Nov. 16, also the deadline for the 3% full-payment discount.
Countywide, the roughly 210,000 statements add up to $1.834 billion, up 5.28% or $92 million from last year, according to the county’s Oct. 16 release. The county lists several causes: the 3% increase in assessed value on most properties, new construction, new or increased taxing district levies and a “large expansion of industrial data centers.”
The release does not say how much of that growth is in Hillsboro, where the City Council voted 6-0 on Oct. 20 to limit where new data centers can go. It does say about 195,000 accounts will see higher bills, about 30,000 of them by more than 5%, while about 9,000 will go down.
Eleven neighborhoods, one percentage
The county’s list of typical residential properties picks one home in each of 11 Hillsboro areas, from Downtown Hillsboro to Orenco and Jackson School. Every one shows assessed value up 3.0% and tax up 4.9%, while market value moved from 4% up to 6% down. The dollar change below is our calculation: the 2026 tax minus the 2025 tax.
| Area | 2025 tax | 2026 tax | Change (our calculation) | Market value change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsboro Plexes | $4,268 | $4,477 | +$209 | +4% |
| Centennial | $4,310 | $4,521 | +$211 | -5% |
| Evergreen | $5,462 | $5,730 | +$268 | -3% |
| Golden Acres | $4,019 | $4,216 | +$197 | -2% |
| Grant | $5,497 | $5,766 | +$269 | +3% |
| Hawthorne Farms | $5,129 | $5,380 | +$251 | -5% |
| Downtown Hillsboro | $3,736 | $3,919 | +$183 | -4% |
| Jackson School | $5,858 | $6,145 | +$287 | -6% |
| Orenco | $4,621 | $4,847 | +$226 | -4% |
| Sunrise | $3,886 | $4,077 | +$191 | -2% |
| West Hillsboro | $3,371 | $3,536 | +$165 | -1% |
Across the 11 homes, the average increase is about $223 and the median is $211. We added the 11 dollar changes ($2,457), divided by 11, and took the middle value of the sorted list. Each figure is one home the county chose, and an individual bill can differ.
Taxed on a capped value
Market value and taxable value are separate numbers in Oregon. The county release defines real market value as the assessor’s estimate of what a property would sell for on Jan. 1. Maximum assessed value is a taxable limit “typically allowed to increase each year by no more than 3%.” Assessed value is the lower of the two, and taxes are calculated on it.
The county’s fact sheet ties that 3% step to the “constitutional value limitation passed by voters beginning in 1997.” The Oregon Department of Revenue’s property assessment page adds that the cap can be exceeded when a property changes, such as a new structure, an improvement or a partition.
For the Hillsboro homes, the gap between the two values is wide. Their 2026 assessed values equal 46% to 60% of the county’s market estimates, our calculation. Even after a 6% market drop to $625,040, the Jackson School home, which has the largest increase at $287, is taxed on $367,760.
Countywide, the fact sheet says the average single-family home’s assessed value rose to $350,536 from $339,000, while its average market value fell to $605,955 from $626,540. The county’s total assessed value grew to $99.8 billion from $96.1 billion.
A rate per $1,000 that rose about 1.8%
A 3% rise in assessed value covers only part of a 4.9% bill. The revenue department says a property’s tax is its assessed value multiplied by the combined rates of every district it sits in, plus any assessments.
Dividing each Hillsboro home’s tax by its assessed value gives about $16.41 per $1,000 last year and $16.71 this year for all 11 homes, our calculation. That is about 1.8% more per $1,000, and 1.03 times 1.018 comes to roughly 1.049.
The county release lists new voter-approved levies among the reasons a bill can climb more than 3%. Its statement insert names the new or renewed measures on this year’s bills, including two Washington County replacement levies for countywide library services and countywide public safety. None of the county documents breaks Hillsboro’s 4.9% down by district or levy, or explains why homes in three different tax code areas show the same rate.
Questions, appeals and the Nov. 16 postmark
Bills can be paid in thirds, due Nov. 16, Feb. 16, 2027, and May 17, 2027. Paying in full earns a 3% discount and paying two-thirds earns 2%, but only if the payment is postmarked by Nov. 16, the release says. On the Downtown Hillsboro home’s $3,919 bill, the full-payment discount would be about $118, our calculation.
Owners with no statement by Nov. 1 should call the tax collections office at 503-846-8801, and value questions go to the appraisal division at 503-846-8826. Value appeals can be filed until Dec. 31, and the insert says they should focus on market value as of Jan. 1, 2026.
The insert also warns that the U.S. Postal Service has reported longer mail processing delays, and it suggests having a postal clerk hand-stamp the envelope. Payments can instead go in the 24-hour drop box at the rear entrance of the Public Services Building, 155 N. 1st Ave. in downtown Hillsboro. The indoor drop box outside Suite 130 is closed Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.
Top image: File photo, 2014: two-story homes along SE Alexander Street in Hillsboro after a February snowstorm. Photo: M.O. Stevens, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
