King County Assessor Lloyd Hara has been making the rounds of local communities to explain property tax bills to residents.
A meeting was held in Maple Valley and one is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 27, in Covington City Hall chambers, 16720 S.E. 271st St.
Hara said he is trying to work closely with all taxing districts and residents to make certain everyone knows what is ahead both in terms of taxes and revenues.
The King County Library, fire districts, Valley Medical Center and cities are all affected by property values and taxes. As the assessed values of residential and commercial properties drop, revenues to taxing districts fall.
The assessor said Covington has taken a “fairly good reduction” in assessed values. He noted more than 50 percent of property taxes are voter approved, and schools make up the largest portion of this pie.
Hara said the assessor’s office was hit by a 400 percent increase in property tax appeals when the recession began taking a major bite out of property values in 2008.
He said the office is still clearing out the 2009 appeals, and the appeals for 2010 have dropped for residential, but increased for commercial.
Residential property took the largest drubbing from the recession beginning in 2008, but in 2010 commercial is “beginning to take a hit” according to Hara.
The drop in commercial assessed valued will hit Covington harder than Maple Valley or Black Diamond because the city has a larger commercial district.
According to figures provided by the assessor’s office, residential average assessed values in Covington dropped from $312,700 to $253,200 or 19 percent from 2009 to 2010.
Maple Valley assessed values dropped 14.9 percent from $346,000 to $294,400.
In Black Diamond the average assessed value dropped from $401,000 to $343,500 or 14.3 percent.
In Covington the tax rate per $1,000 increased from 11.11 percent in 2009 to 12.61 in 2010, but with the drop in value the average property owner paid $281.25 less in 2010. In 2009 the average tax was $3,474.10 and 2010 $3,192.85.
In Maple Valley the rate increased from 10.27 in 2009 to 12.03 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2010, and with the drop in assessed value the average property owner paid $11.79 less.
Black Diamond saw the largest jump of the three cities, with the rate per $1,000 rising from 9.06 percent in 2009 to 11.50 in 2010. Assessed value fell about 14 percent, but property owners will send in $315.41 more. Most of the increase in Black Diamond came from voter approved school measures.
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