The Supreme Court of Oregon has overruled a Tax Court decision and held that a vacant lot acquired by an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and being held for the construction of a house for a low-income family is exempt from real estate tax even before construction has been started. The Tax Court had held that the property was not “actually and exclusively occupied or used” by Habitat in its charitable purposes. The Tax Court had relied on what it considered a “bright line” test established by the state Supreme Court in prior cases. The Supreme Court had previously ruled in a hospital case that vacant properties were not entitled to exemption even though they were eventually to be developed...