OAR 123-690-0500
Eligible Rural Enterprise Zones

For purposes of annually identifying applicable counties, in which the Facility Site needs to be entirely located at the time that the written agreement in OAR 123-690-2000 (LOCAL APPROVAL — Written Agreement) is executed:
(1) With on-line availability of (non-preliminary) annual statistics or data described in this rule, the Department shall analyze the data for all relevant years, ascertain which counties in the state satisfy ORS 285C.400 (Definitions for ORS 285C.400 to 285C.420)(3) or (5), prepare associated information, and post it on the Department web site for use by the public and business firms, as well as local zone managers and county assessors.
(2)(a) The determination that a county meets the definition under ORS 285C.400 (Definitions for ORS 285C.400 to 285C.420)(3) of a ‘county with chronically low income or chronic unemployment’ shall first take effect at least once a year on January 1 or July 1 following on-line availability of the latest annual data. As the Department deems appropriate in response to the release of new annual data or revisions to that data, the Department may reissue or modify the determination, update associated information, and set the effective date for changes in county status as warranted.
(b) A correct, prior determination in accordance with this section is not subject to retroactive change due to revisions to data for the same or future years.
(c) A county is a ‘county with chronically low income or chronic unemployment’ if any of the following is true:
(A) The median derived according to paragraph (d)(C) of this section for the most recent 10 or 20 consecutive years is at least 1.3 rounded to the nearest tenth, based on unemployment rates described in paragraph (d)(A) of this section.
(B) The median derived according to paragraph (d)(C) of this section for the most recent 10 consecutive years is equal to or less than 0.75 rounded to the nearest one-hundredth, based on per capita income levels described in paragraph (d)(B) of this section.
(C) The county’s change in total population minus natural population change is equal to or less than negative one (-1), based on the most recent estimates available from the Portland State University Population Research Center, in comparison to the latest decennial U.S. Census count of not less than three years earlier.
(d) As used in ORS 285C.400 (Definitions for ORS 285C.400 to 285C.420)(3):
(A) “Most recently revised annual average unemployment rate available” means the estimated percent of the civilian labor force that is unemployed on average according to Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) from the Oregon Employment Department in each of the most recent calendar years available.
(B) “Most recently revised … annual per capita income levels available” means the average annual per capita personal income level as estimated and revised by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis for each of the most recent calendar years available.
(C) “Median ratio of the county to the equivalent of the entire United States for each year” means the average for the two middlemost quotients that result from dividing the county figures described in paragraph (A) or (B) of this subsection by each year’s corresponding national figure over 10 or 20 years.
(3) As used in ORS 285C.400 (Definitions for ORS 285C.400 to 285C.420)(5) and in identifying qualified rural counties:
(a) “County … outside all metropolitan statistical areas” means an Oregon county other than Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Deschutes, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington or Yamhill County.
(b) “[T]otal property taxes imposed by all taxing districts within the county are equal to or greater than 1.3 percent of the total assessed value of all taxable property located in the county” is true if the quotient of the respective amounts from the Department of Revenue’s most recently published Oregon Property Tax Statistics (150-303-405) is equal to or greater than 0.013 rounded to the nearest one-thousandth. Those amounts shall be updated as feasible and necessary using more current tax year documentation of the county (excluding urban renewal from the tax figure).

Source: Rule 123-690-0500 — Eligible Rural Enterprise Zones, https://secure.­sos.­state.­or.­us/oard/view.­action?ruleNumber=123-690-0500 (accessed May 26, 2025).

May 26, 2025

Rule 123-690-0500's source at or​.us