Assessed home values on the rise in Snohomish County

EVERETT — If you received a letter recently from the Snohomish County Assessor, chances are it informed you that your home is worth more than it was a year ago.

Average assessed values for houses and condos in the county increased by more than 12 percent this year. That puts the typical home value at $275,000, compared to $245,000 a year earlier.

It was the second straight year of higher values, following a post-recession dip.

The new figures will be used to calculate taxes due in 2015. It won’t be until early next year that county number-crunchers will know more.

“We can’t predict what property taxes will be for individual properties,” Assessor Cindy Portmann said. “We don’t know what will happen yet.”

Local governments first have to pass budgets for next year. Voter-approved ballot measures also could change the equation.

The latest assessments are supposed to reflect property values as of Jan. 1, 2014. The county mailed assessment notices in late June.

The overall value of taxable property in Snohomish County increased by $8.4 billion this year to $92.6 billion, the Assessor’s Office reported. That’s a jump of 10 percent.

The total includes $68.2 billion in residential value —both houses and condos— as well as $24.4 billion in commercial property.

The Assessor’s Office is in the process of adding new construction to those totals, Portmann said.

Values rose throughout the county, except for in the Darrington area. That owes largely to damages from the March 22 Oso mudslide and related flooding, which has reduced some property values and taken others off the tax rolls altogether.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.

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