Some Bend residents surprised how tax dollars are spent

The city of Bend has a permanent property tax rate of $2.80 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. For h omes with an estimated value of $200,000, that means the city receives $560 per year. So where does all that money go?

The city released a video on its Facebook page over the weekend to help explain.

A third of the city government’s budget is called the “general fund,” the majority of which is made up of your property taxes.

Nearly 50 percent of the overall property tax dollar a Bend resident pays goes toward Bend-La Pine Schools, a little more than 20 percent supports various city services, from police and fire to streets, while the other funds other entities, from Deschutes County to COCC and the library system.

The other 70 percent of the city’s budget primarily comes from utilities, planning and other fees. T hose are considered restricted revenues. F or example, any sewer fees can only fund sewer operations.

NewsChannel 21 asked the City of Bend’s finance director what part of the video might surprise people the most.

“We talk a lot about the general fund, but it’s only about 30 percent of our citywide revenue,” Sharon Wojda said Monday. “So I think that’s important for people to understand that while we have a large biennial budget, there’s just a smaller general fund the council has control over allocations in.”

NewsChannel 21 also spoke with some taxpayers in Bend. Most said they didn’t know what their tax dollars went toward. So we broke it down for them, by showing exactly how the money is divided up.

After learning how the taxes are allocated, we wanted to know what part they would change.

“I would take the tax dollars going toward Bend schools and disperse them out through the library and the COCC and to the Parks and Rec,” 21-year-old Max Tromblee said.

“I’m surprised that more doesn’t go to the schools,” said Shannon Shaver, who’s been a Bend taxpayer for more than 35 years. “I thought they were getting more than 50 percent of our tax dollars and it’s like 42 or something.”

The city’s property tax rate has been in place for more than 20 years, and both Tromblee and Shaver thought that price was too high.

The city of Bend says it does not expect to propose changing that fixed rate any time soon, a step that would need voter approval.