If you're one of those homeowners who winces a little bit when the property tax bill comes in the mail -- get ready. Preliminary numbers point to a double-digit percentage increase in property taxes when the bill arrives later this month. In addition prices in King County are expected to climb by over 10% again for 2018.
King County will be higher than last year’s by an average of nearly 17 percent, Assessor John Wilson says. And the bump will cost the owner of a median-valued county home about $700, according to Wilson, who says the state’s new school-funding plan is the main reason.
He says the plan created in response to the state Supreme Court’s landmark McCleary decision will be responsible for about two-thirds of King County’s hike.
“It’s the largest increase in some time,” Wilson said in an interview Friday.
Some areas within the county will see larger jumps than others. In Seattle, the tax increase will be 16.9 percent, Wilson said. In Bellevue, the increase will be 21.6 percent, causing the owner of a median-valued home ($791,000) to pay $1,300 more than the owner of a median-valued home last year. And Federal Way will see a 11.5 percent increase — $434 more for the owner of a median-valued home ($301,000) than for the owner of a median-valued home last year.
Issaquah and Sammamish are looking at something in the 20% range, and with the average home already pushing over $1,000,000 with property taxes in the $8,000 to 10,000 we're talking some significant jumps of close to $2,000 per year.
Bills are set to be mailed Feb. 14, said Wilson, promising that his office will be posting data online in early February for taxpayers to examine.
The news gets even worse for those living in Snohomish County... Snohomish County homeowners bracing for up to 27% increase in tax bill!
“I’m trying hard to get information out to the public so they’re aware of the changes and aware of the impact,” Snohomish County Assessor Linda Hjelle told The Herald. “As soon as we got the numbers, I wanted to get them out to the public.”
Lake Stevens homeowners will see the biggest increase — 27.7 percent — and Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, and Brier will see a 20 percent increase, according to the Daily.
Both Republican and Democratic government officials are expressing concerns over the amount of increases we are seeing.
The impending tax increases prompted Democratic Sen. Reuven Carlyle to speak out on social media this week. A Seattle Democrat, Carlyle says he voted against the school-funding plan as over-reliant on property taxes and unfairly distributed across the state.
State Representative Cary Condotta (R-Wenatchee) proposed legislation that would provide relief for homeowners by reducing the property tax.
“My particular bill would take the state property tax back from 81 cents to 50 cents where it started, and would eliminate most of the tax increases that you’re seeing due to the McCleary decision that this year. We have the money to do it,” he said. “There’s two-point-one billion dollars sitting on the table down here. There’s no reason we can’t spend 330-million dollars to get rid of that tax increase.”
Condotta says property tax reduction is a high priority for Republicans this session.
“We just feel strongly that with four years of record revenue increases – four years in a row – it’s time to give some back.”
Tax bills are typically mailed in mid-February with half due by the end of April and the other half due at the end of October.
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