Title: Snohomish%20County%20Assessor
1Snohomish County Assessors Office
- Gail S. Rauch
- Snohomish County Assessor
- Cindy S. Portmann - Chief Deputy Assessor
- Chuck Sessler Appraisal Manager
2 Snohomish County Voters
Legislative Council Executive Judicial Courts Judges Judicial Courts Judges
Administrative Administrative Administrative Administrative
Assessor Airport Airport Human Resources
Auditor BRB/BOE BRB/BOE Human Services
Clerk Corrections Corrections Information Services
Prosecutor Facilities Facilities Medical Examiner
Sheriff Finance Finance Parks Recreation
Treasurer Hearing Examiner Hearing Examiner Planning Development Srvs
Public Works
3What is the Assessors job?
- Washington State law requires that Assessors
- Assess all real and personal property in the
county at 100 of true and fair market value in
money, unless specifically exempted by law - Fair market value or true value is the amount
that a willing and unobligated buyer is willing
to pay a willing and unobligated seller
4Scope
- The listing of all taxable real and personal
property within the geographic boundaries of
Snohomish County are within the offices
jurisdiction, including property within
incorporated cities.
5Real Property
- Includes land, improvements to land, structures
and certain equipment fixed to structures - Assessor values property using one or more of the
following methods - Market or sales comparison
- Cost Approach
- Income
6Personal Property
- The primary characteristic of personal property
is mobility - Personal property includes furnishings, machinery
and equipment, fixtures, supplies and tools - Most personal property owned by individuals is
specifically exempt. - If these items are used in a business, personal
property tax applies
7What else is the Assessors office responsible
for?
- Administration of exemption programs such as
senior citizen and non-profit - Administration of special programs
- Open Space
- (Farm Agricultural, Timber, and General)
- Forest land
- Historical Restoration
8Workload Indicators
- 250,000 real property parcels to assess
- 13,500 personal property accounts
- 49.3 billion in assessed value
- 1 billion added for new construction each year
for the past 5 years - 9,000 senior exemptions
- 28,500 phone calls (main customer service line
only)
9Why do we have property tax?
- Taxing districts levy taxes to deliver services
that taxpayers want and authorize - Also used to pay for special voter-approved
levies such as school maintenance and operation
levies and bonds, and emergency medical levies
10Senior Taxing Districts
- Washington State School Levy (1)
- General Purpose Local Governments (21)
- County Government (1)
- City Governments (20)
11Junior Taxing Jurisdictions
- Junior Taxing Jurisdictions (59)
- School Districts (15)
- Fire Districts (24)
- Health District (1)
- Library Districts (1)
- Water-7 Sewer-3 Districts (10)
- Ports Districts (2)
- Hospital Districts (3)
- Transit (3)
- Other Recreation, Convention, Diking, PUD
12Property Tax Distribution
Which local governments receive property taxes?
13Tax Facts
10.8 General Revenues
6.0 Road Fund
83.2 Other Jurisdictions
63.1 M
35.7 M
14Current Assessment Cycle
- 4-year Reval Cycle 1999 2003
- County divided into 4 areas
- Each area inspected and revalued once every 4
years - Results in different levels of assessed values
- Distribution of some tax levies are not at the
same level
15Iniative 747
- I-747 limited the amount a taxing district may
levy, but did not affect assessed values - Some taxing districts may have banked levy
capacity that allows them to increase their
budgets more than 1 - Voter approved special levies are not affected by
the 5.90 limit, 1 limit and I-747
16Does an annual reval mean more taxes for
Snohomish County?
- No.
- Snohomish County will not receive more property
taxes by changing to an annual reval - The levy rate will decrease as a result of the
assessed value increasing
17Annual Reval A goal we have been working towards
- Standards, Accountability Reorganization
- Using technology
- GIS
- CAMA
- Ascend
- Tablet computers for field appraisers
- Working with Planning Development
18Annual Reval Plan
- Starting in 2004 - revaluation will be done
annually - 1/6 of property in the county will be physically
inspected and updated to market value - All property that is not physically inspected
must be statistically updated annually - New 2004 assessed value used to calculate taxes
owing in 2005
19Benefits of an Annual Reval
- Uniformity
- All property is closer to market value
- Level of assessment
- Tax burden distributed more equitably
- Predictability
- Helps taxpayers and taxing districts
20Uniformity
- All property is assessed every year at market
value - Particularly important if market values begin to
decline - Assessed values are not fixed for 4 years
21Level of Assessment
- Tax burden is distributed more equitably
- Particularly important for county-wide levies
such as the - state school levy
- county levies
- other levies that cross area boundaries
22Predictability
- Large increases in assessed values that result
from a 4-year cycle are - difficult for taxpayers to accept
- misunderstood (40 increase in A/V must equal
40 increase in taxes) - result in the area that has just been revalued
carrying a larger share of some taxes than the
other 3 areas
23Advances in TechnologyResulted in Increases in
Efficiency
- In 1975 the office had 118 employees
- In 2002 there were 71 FTEs
- In 2003 we will have 69.85 FTEs
- More than a 40 decrease in staff
- In 1973 there were 147,500 parcels
- In 2003 we will have over 250,000 parcels
- More than a 69 increase in workload
24Exemption Programs andSpecial Classifications
- Open Space Classification
- Improvement Exemption
- Destroyed Property Claims
- Designated Forest Land
- Historical Restoration Exemption
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Senior Citizen/Disabled Person Exemption