07/16/2022
The Assessor cannot raise property values in order to increase taxes. The cost of providing public services determines your property tax. Local government consists of various taxing districts including fire districts, regional library, cities, roads, ports, county government, etc. A portion of the tax is distributed to the state for local school support. In addition, taxes are collected to pay for special voter-approved levies, such as school maintenance and operation levies and bonds and emergency medical levies. The Assessor does not set budgets for these taxing districts. Budgets are established by the taxing districts themselves and approved by their legislative authority. Every year the directors or commissioners of all taxing districts meet in open session to determine the amount of taxes to be collected the following year. Public questions or comments are welcome during this process. Once the budget has been adopted, and a resolution passed by the commissioners of each taxing district, the amount of taxes to be collected is certified by the Assessor. The role of the Assessor is to then calculate the tax rates necessary to generate the revenue needed to meet the budgetary requirements of the districts. The Assessor also ensures that none of the constitutional or statutory limitations are violated. My opponent cannot take an oath of office to uphold the laws of Washington State and then promise to lower your taxes to win an election.
My opponents statement asks “Are you tired of your assessed value of your property?” As you may have heard, real estate values in all Washington state counties have been on a steady increase over the past few years. Per RCW 84.40.030, all property must be valued at one hundred percent of its true and fair market value which then results in unprecedented market values. As stated in the prior paragraph, the Assessor cannot raise values in order to increase taxes. In summary if sales in your neighborhood reflect a 10% increase from the prior revaluation, then your value will do the same. My question to my opponent is what would be your plan to fund all the local taxing districts that provide services throughout Mason County?
A qualified Assessor is what is needed to ensure that your assessed value is accurate and fair so you are paying your portion to these local districts. Please be an informed voter. Thank you all for your support.