King County property taxes nudge upward
February 20, 2010
By Administrator
New: Feb. 20, 5:32 p.m.
King County property taxes will show a 1.18 percent increase when tax bills start to arrive in mailboxes in the next few weeks, County Assessor Lloyd Hara announced Feb. 16.
State law caps property tax increases at 1 percent per year. However, new construction and voter-approved ballot measures, which allowed for new tax levies, made the total creep over 1 percent.
The overall amount property taxes paid last year was 6.16 percent. The increase in 2008 was 8.18 percent.
The total amount of property taxes for all purposes will total $3.427 billion in 2010 — up $39.9 million from $3.388 billion last year.
Of the $39.9 million increase, $20.45 million resulted from new construction in King County — totaling $5.2 billion of assessed value in 2010. Revenue from new construction does not result in a tax increase for existing taxpayers.
Declines in property values results in a decrease of 11.61 percent in growth for the county tax base. Last year, a rise in assessed property values caused the tax base to grow 13.46 percent.
Changes to home values do not necessarily translate into dramatic changes in the amount of taxes paid by homeowners. Most agencies with taxing authority may only increase property taxes by a maximum of 1 percent per year, unless voters approve a larger increase.
When home prices were skyrocketing a few years ago, governments did not receive a windfall of property tax cash; the tax rate dropped so the amount a homeowner paid increased by up to the 1 percent number. Conversely, when home prices decline as they’re doing now, the rate increases.
This year, the tax rates per $1,000 of assessed value across the county have generally increased due to the decrease in home value.
Officials use multiple years of real-estate sales data to determine assessments.
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