Date: January 24, 2019

Contacts:
Linda Hjelle                        Laura Washabaugh                          Chris Huyboom
Assessor                            Chief Deputy Assessor                     Levy Comptroller
Linda.Hjelle@snoco.org    Laura.Washabaugh@snoco.org       Chris.Huyboom@snoco.org

2019 Property Tax Information

EVERETT – The Snohomish County Assessor’s Office is responsible for annually updating the assessed values for all locally assessed real and personal property in Snohomish County and calculating the levy rates for all taxing districts for property tax purposes. 

The January 1, 2018 revaluation assessment date (or July 31, 2018 for new construction) is set using sales that occurred before those dates and is used to determine the amount of taxes owing in 2019. 

Snohomish County voters continued to show their support for the majority of taxing districts that requested approval of tax increases in 2018.  Those increases will appear on 2019 property tax statements.

Voters approved 33 of 40 monetary property tax measures on the ballot in 2018:

• 3 were approved for city, fire district and regional fire authority EMS levies;
• 9 were approved for city, library and fire districts levies; and
• 21 were approved for school districts levies.

In 2017, the Legislature passed EHB 2242 partly in response to the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision.  The Court found that the State was not meeting its constitutional requirement to fully fund basic education.  EHB 2242 has several components and at least two will impact your tax bill now and in the future.

First, EHB 2242 created a second portion to the state school levy with collection beginning in 2018.  The new second portion increased the combined rate by $0.82 in 2018. Legislature passed SSB6614 that will reduce the state school levy rate in 2019. The combined rate decreased $0.28 from last year’s rate of $2.85 to this year rate of $2.57. The average Snohomish County residential property owner with an assessed value of $377,600 would have paid $1,076 to the state school levy in 2018; in 2019 that owner with an average assessed value of $424,300 will pay $1,090.  The State Department of Revenue calculates the portion Snohomish County property owners will be responsible for.  The Assessor’s Office calculates the rate.

Second, beginning in 2019, EHB 2242 imposes limitations on how much can be collected in local school (Enrichment) levies and limits the levy to the lesser of $1.50 levy rate or $2,500 per pupil to be increased by inflation.  This change affects both existing and new local school levies. 

Further information on the property tax impacts of EHB 2242 may be found on the Department of Revenue (www.dor.wa.gov) and Office of School Superintendent’s (www.k12.wa.us) websites.

The levy rates calculated for taxing districts generally decreased as a result of higher assessed values. Other factors that had an effect on 2019 levy rates are voter approved measures which increased the rate, while the state school levy decreased the rate due to legislators reducing the rate for this year only, and local school districts enrichment levies decreased the rate as a result of being capped at $1.50. In 2018, these local school districts levy rates ranged from $1.74 to $3.71 and now cannot exceed $1.50.  The typical levy rate in 2018 was $11.5468 per thousand dollars of assessed value, while the 2019 typical levy rate decreased to $10.0866.

The total taxable assessed value increased from $118 billion in 2018 to $132 billion in 2019 for tax purposes.

According to the County Treasurer’s Office, they will begin mailing tax statements on February 14th. Property tax payment information for 2019 is also available on-line at the Treasurer’s office website: https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/Treasurer

A report showing the tax and assessed value average changes for the typical residence by city, unincorporated Snohomish County and countywide is an attachment to this press release. 

Property taxes to be collected this year by all taxing districts in Snohomish County will show an overall 2.01% decrease over last year. Property taxes for all purposes will total $1.339 billion in 2019, down $27 million over 2018’s $1.366 billion that was levied for all taxing districts.

For more information on how property tax levies are calculated visit the Assessor’s website at:  https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/Levy

There are several tax relief programs available that are administered by the Assessor’s office. Information about the programs can be found on the back side of the property tax statements or by visiting the Assessor’s office website at: https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/Assessor