Property values in the marketplace have almost universally declined this past year, but most Yamhill County property owners can expect higher tax bills to begin arriving in the mail today.

That's largely because the bills are pegged to assessed value for tax purposes, not real market value, and it has taken no such dip. Adding to the impact are a lack of new buildings going onto the tax rolls to help share the burden and voter approval of new levies or bond issues in some of the county's 41 taxing districts.

The assessor's office started mailing bills out Friday to about 45,000 county property owners. It has a mandate to collect just over $99 million, up 6 percent from last year.

On average, home values have declined about 6 percent in McMinnville, 8 percent in Newberg and 7 percent elsewhere in the county, the assessor's office says. But property taxes haven't been tied to true market value since voters passed Measure 50 in 1997, according to Assessor Scott Maytubby.

The measure's goal was to provide "predictability, together with a slow, steady growth in property taxes, uninfluenced by sharp fluctuations in real estate values," he said. And it has done that - to the point where assessed value stood only at about 60 percent of market value last year.

For a drop in home value to result in an actual drop in tax obligation, then, a $100,000 house would have to see its market value plunge below $60,000. And this year's drop, drastic as it might seem on the surface, hasn't even approached that magnitude.

The county is required to hike its assessed value figures 3 percent a year. That means property owners are likely to face increases of at least 3 percent, even if no new obligations have been incurred by any of the taxing districts in their tax code area.

Voter-approved measures will raise rates further in some districts, Maytubby said.

Amity has a new fire district bond on the books, for example, and Dayton has a new school bond in place. So people owning property in the Amity Rural Fire Protection District or Dayton School District will see larger increases on their bills than most of their compatriots.

Yamhill County contains 71 different tax codes, reflecting different combinations of taxing districts. Amity's fire measure affects three codes and Dayton's school bond six codes.

Overall, a dollar of property taxes collected in the county divides up this way, Maytubby said - 17 cents for county government services, 28 cents for library, park and police services and 55 cents for public education at all levels.

The county will begin accepting valuation appeals Monday and continue accepting them until Dec. 31. However, successful appeals no long serve to reduce bills in most cases, given the large gap between assessed and real market values.

To receive a full-payment discount, payments must be postmarked by Nov. 16. So property owners who don't receive a bill by Nov. 1 should call the assessor's office to rectify the problem.

For those paying in three installments, the due dates are Nov. 16, Feb. 16 and May 17. Payments may be made by mail, over the phone or online.

To pay by phone, call 1-877-309-3929. To pay online, visit www.co.yamhill.or.us. To get more information, call 503-434-7521.