Dear King County Taxpayer,

Soon the King County Department of Assessments will begin mailing out 2008 property valuation notices. These notices indicate the appraised value of property, as of January 1, 2008, for the purpose of 2009 property tax distribution. Property valuations do not determine the amount of overall property tax obligations. Property tax obligations are determined by 160 taxing districts in King County as they create their respective budgets for 2009. Simply put, the “amount” of tax obligation is determined by the taxing districts and the “distribution” of the obligation is determined by property values.

Current assessments in King County are uniformly about 85% of market value as determined by the Washington State Department of Revenue. For the new assessments taxpayers will generally see value increases when they receive their 2008 value notices, with appropriate consideration given to current real estate market conditions and perceptions. The new assessments, in general, will remain below market value as of January 1, 2008.

Speaking of market value, how do we look at it for property tax purposes? Beginning in 2006 the Department of Assessments became concerned that real estate market speculation was artificially driving up the “market” price of property. In order to avoid penalizing the taxpayers of King County by valuing their property at potentially speculatively high levels, the department instead chose to use at least three years of sales to mitigate speculation and prevent sudden extreme jumps in valuations. As a result properties within King County were valued uniformly, but below market value.

The real estate market environment in King County indicates that, while the real estate activity level is slowing, sale prices and values were not declining and in some cases were increasing up until January 1, 2008. The result is that although most properties will receive a valuation increase in 2008 those values will still be below market value as of January 1, 2008. We will continue to monitor the market carefully.

We invite you to compare the notice you receive to the current market value of your property. By utilizing our ESales Search System you can compare your valuation to recent market sales in your neighborhood and to properties that share similar characteristics. In most cases you will find that the 2008 assessed value of your property is below market value.

We hope this information is useful to you and we invite you to contact us with any additional questions.

Scott Noble, King County Assessor

Links:

• Two sides to '07 housing market
• '07 home prices not so bad after all
• 2007 real estate recap: Local home prices were up, sales were way down
• U.S. existing-home sales, prices fall; King County prices rise
• Seattle seen as one of best '08 commercial real-estate markets
• Are Your Property Taxes Going Up? Don’t Blame the Assessor
• HOW DOES WASHINGTON STATE’S PROPERTY TAX SYSTEM COMPARE?
• Keepers of the Faith - Published in Fair & Equitable • June 2007
• 2008 Press Release