Assessor: Adjust Island assessments

Puget Island taxpayers may get a break in their property taxes under a proposal from newly elected county Assessor Bill Coons.

Coons has asked the county board of commissioners to approve a resolution calling for a special session of the county Board of Equalization to consider property tax appeals from Puget Island land owners. He hopes that because of the large number of appeals, the Board of Equalization will be able to adjust values for all Island parcels.

The board of commissioners said they wanted to have input from Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow and they put the item on their agenda for their February 22 meeting.

Property values on Puget Island weren't set correctly last year, Coons told the commissioners. The assessor's office received 168 appeals, of which 137 are still active.

Coons said he is reviewing appeals and stipulating what he thinks the values on them are, and if the property owners agree, the value is adjusted, and if they don't agree, a hearing would be set before the Board of Equalization.

Statutory time schedules also weren't met last year, he said. State law calls for the assessor to set values by the end of May each year and to notify property owners of them. In June, property owners have a chance to meet with the assessor, and if they're dissatisfied with the values, they have until July 1 to file an appeal. The Board of Equalization is supposed to start meeting on July 15 and deal with the appeals within 28 days.

Last year, however, the values weren't set until September, and Board of Equalization didn't meet until after that.

Coons insists that the values were set too high and didn't reflect the market decline in real estate values. People appealing the assessments should see a reduction, while those who didn't won't see that reduction.

"There's inequality across the Island," Coons said. "It's not fair, not right."

Coons feel that a section in the Revised Code of Washington provides "an escape valve" for situations such as this, and this is the basis of his proposed resolution. The section allows the Board of Equalization to hold a special session if there are a certain number of appeals and if the board of commissioners agree. And if the Board of Equalization finds sufficient grounds, it could equalize the assessments across the Island, not just for those who have appealed.

Coons admitted that the state Department of Revenue (DOR) may oppose the proposal.

"As former chair of the Board of Equalization, I learned that if the DOR wants something, they don't say anything, and if they don't, they put up lots of walls," he said.

He added that if the proposal were successful, it would take two years to implement through adjusting levy rates.

The proposal also would lower tax collections for entities that collect property taxes on the Island, including the fire department and diking district as well as the county and state. Coons said he would inform officials from those entities of the proposal and invite their comments for next Tuesday's meeting.