White City resident Wayne Ralph cleared a major hurdle when his Measure 37 claim was approved last March.

Now comes the bad news.

The Jackson County Assessor’s Office sent him a bill recently for $6,000 in taxes for the past 10 years because the property now has a higher value.

His Medford attorney, Mark Bartholomew, fired off an e-mail to Jackson County commissioners pointing out that the 5-acre property on Antioch Road is still zoned exclusive farm use and hasn’t been developed.

"It is not exactly fair that they are billing them for that," he said, although he noted that the approved claim does waive the zoning restrictions.

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But county Assessor Dan Ross said the state statute seems "fairly black and white" on this issue, which will affect other Measure 37 claimants.

Once a subdivision plat has been filed with the county, as Ralph has done, the property owner is then required to pay the back taxes for up to 10 years because the property had been assessed at a lower rate under its exclusive farmland designation, Ross said.

"Usually any time a subdivision is recorded, it kicks it into disqualification," said Ross.

Property owners who have so-called "resource" land such as woodland, forest or farm are given a tax break until they decide to subdivide. The law was designed to encourage owners to maintain their resource land.

Commissioners, who approved eight Measure 37 claims Wednesday, voiced their sympathy for Ralph and other property owners who have received a Measure 37 waiver and may find they are liable for back taxes.

Commissioner Dave Gilmour said property owners might file a Measure 37 claim but still intend to farm their land for many years. By assessing the land at a higher rate it could force these property owners to develop their land faster.

"There may be unintended consequences of destroying family farms," he said.

Commissioner C.W. Smith thought demanding back property taxes seemed "counter-intuitive" and didn’t make sense.

"It almost seems like it is punitive to Measure 37 claims," he said.

Commissioner Jack Walker also criticized reassessing properties where no development has taken place. "I don’t think much of that," he said.

Bartholomew said the situation is particularly difficult because there are other issues over Measure 37 that haven’t been settled and could affect his client’s ability to develop his property.

The courts have yet to decide on whether a claim received by one property owner can be transferred to a new property owner.

"Until the transferability issue shakes out there are more questions than answers," said Bartholomew, who has 12 clients who have approved claims and about another 40 who will be seeking approval for claims.

Bartholomew said Ralph’s property is zoned exclusive farm use. Since Measure 37 only waives the zoning restrictions on the property, the actual zoning hasn’t changed, he said.

However, the county is treating the property as if it were zoned RR-5 (rural residential with five buildings allowed).

Until the legal issues are worked out, Bartholomew said Ralph will continue to farm his property as he has done in the past.

He said his client is willing to pay the back assessments, but he thinks it would be fairer to do so once the property is sold or developed.

"I’m hopeful they will change their position on that," he said.

County Counsel Mike Jewett said these kinds of issues likely will have to be resolved in the courts.

The county has received 12 new claims since the Supreme Court ruled Measure 37 was constitutional in February, bringing the total number of claims to 203 since the initiative became law in December 2004.

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com.