“I was stunned to learn recently that nearly half of the property owners in King County do not receive a summary of where their property taxes go. This seems like very basic information that every citizen should receive but hundreds of thousands of people aren’t,” said Dunn. “The King County Council recently conducted a series of scientific workshops to poll residents about their thoughts on county government, and 47 percent of those surveyed said that King County does a poor job of reporting back to the people. This makes sense when many property owners don’t even receive a breakdown of where their taxes are going. This legislation will require that every property owner receive an itemized breakdown of where their taxes are going.”

The King County Treasurer currently sends an annual property tax statement to the individual or mortgage company designated to make the payments. This statement is the only piece of information that gives a detailed breakdown of the levies and special districts they are funding. The property tax statements include taxes paid to the state, local schools, county, city, unincorporated roads, port, fire, sewer & water, libraries, and emergency medical services.

About 45 percent of property owners in King County authorize their mortgage company to pay their annual property taxes. Thus, under current policy, they do not receive the summary statement. Dunn’s legislation would require the Treasurer to send an informational statement by mail to property owners that are not currently receiving it. The statement would have a personalized breakdown of the taxes the property owner is paying.

“Washington State has an extremely complicated property tax collection system. All property taxes are paid to the King County Treasurer twice a year, even state, city, and special purpose district taxes. Can you imagine paying your cable bill or cell phone bill without seeing a breakdown of the charges? That’s essentially what we are asking our citizens to do,” said Dunn. “Property owners in King County have a right to this information and it should be a basic service provided to them. This information will help voters more effectively prioritize what services they want their government to provide by understanding what they are already paying for. This is especially true when they go to the polls to approve new or different taxes.”