Property owners with questions about the assessed value of their home can call the King County Assessor at (206) 296-7300 or go online: www.metrokc.gov/Assessor/
The county tax adviser, who can answer some questions and give tips on preparing an appeal, can be reached at (206) 296-5202.
An appeal must be submitted within 60 days of when your home valuation was mailed to you. It will be heard by the Board of Equalization, www.kingcounty.gov/appeals/ or call (206) 296-3496 for more information.
Since the assessor began mailing out valuation notices in May, more than 1,800 homeowners have filed appeals with the Board of Equalization — compared with 750 at this point last year — and appeals are on pace to set a record, said board clerk/manager Dave Goff. The Board of Equalization says more than half the appeals result in valuations being lowered. “Looking at all the reports in the national media, they’re expecting a reduction and they’re getting an increase,” Goff said. “That’s the most prevalent thing we’re hearing. It’s certainly understandable.” The last notices from the assessor are expected to be mailed out by the end of this month. Property owners have 60 days to appeal.
King County revalues all properties every year and conducts physical inspections of properties on average once every six years. The 2008 valuations — which will be used to apportion taxes in 2009 — are going up in a down real-estate market because they represent home values as of Jan. 1, 2008. Those values were calculated by looking at prices paid for nearby properties over the prior three years, a period intended to ease big swings in valuation. Under state law, appraisers can’t consider this year’s sales. The median price of single-family homes sold in King County last month was $445,000, down from $481,000 price a year earlier, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The downturn won’t be reflected in assessed values until next year, Assessor Scott Noble said. “That is pretty much what we do all the time — we play catch-up,” he said. Higher assessed values don’t necessarily mean higher taxes, if your property goes up at the same rate as your neighbors’. That’s because state law limits how much money tax districts can collect without a vote. When assessed values rise, the tax rate typically goes down.
“They’re robbing us — plain and simple,” said Elizabeth Christman, who with her husband, Dave, owns a vacant half-acre Benson Hill lot that was revalued this year from $35,000 to $205,000.
The assessor’s office encourages citizens to call if they have questions or believe valuations were based on faulty assumptions. “Our responsibility is to value the property at market; what we believe is what you could sell the property for in January, using the best information we have available,” Prins said. “Part of the value of the appeal process is it gives us an opportunity to take another look at the property.”
Seattle Times
Keith Ervinkervin@seattletimes.com
