Lease fees could jump for Metolius tract lots

In the year 2003, 108 cabin owners along the Metolius River may pay sharply higher fees for their special use permit land leases from the Forest Service.

According to Jeff Sims of the Sisters Ranger District, the process of reappraising the value of the leased land will begin in 1999, and fee increases will be effective in 2003.

"The fee for each lease is 5 percent of the appraised value of the lot," said Sims. "There are rumors about how high appraised values could go, but appraised value is based on the value of similar lots," and should not create an unexpected surprise.

The Forest Service appraises land it leases every 20 years. Special use fees have increased very modestly each year, but the Forest Service based its fees on a government price index which has not kept pace with real estate values in the Metolius area.

Rod Bonacker of the Sisters Ranger District said, "The new appraisals are going to more accurately reflect market value. Land values, of course, have risen in the past 20 years. Just like if you didn't get your property appraised for 20 years, after an appraisal when you received your tax bill, you'd be in for a big shock," Bonacker said.

Laurence Dyer of Ponderosa Properties has been selling Metolius lease lands for almost 20 years, when "the nicer, better-kept cabins (on leased land) sold for between $40,000-$50,000, and most well below that."

Dyer said that currently, Metolius vacation properties-lots with cabins-are a hot commodity, and sell almost as soon as they hit the market. He noted that several sold recently for about $180,000, and one last fall sold for $150,000.

Recently, two quarter-shares sold for about $50,000 apiece, according to Dyer. These sales all include cabins. There are no lease lots without vacation cabins built on them.

Using these prices, and guessing that the cabins have a value from $50,000 to $75,000, the lots would be worth $100,000 to $150,000 per year.

At those values, the leases would range from $5,000 to $7,500 per year.

These new lease rates will likely be phased in, according to the Forest Service.

Steve Kanter of Portland is a Metolius cabin owner. He said that fees could have an impact on some lease-holders.

"Some increase would not be offensive; there should be a fair return. But a radical increase would be difficult for some people, including some long-time cabin owners, to handle," Kanter said.

Kanter is waiting to see how sharply the special use rates will increase. He said he was shocked by precipitous increases in lease fees in Idaho, and believes "People have assumed that the increases would be at a fairly steady rate."