County finds more tax errors
Published 9:00 pm Monday, February 26, 2007
EVERETT – Another $1.7 million in personal property accounts were found missing from Snohomish County tax rolls, officials said Monday.
Even so, taxpayers won’t see huge reductions in their corrected property tax bills.
Assessor Cindy Portmann reported last week the largest omission was $150.3 million for business equipment at the Kimberly-Clark Co. paper mill in Everett.
An investigation found another 22 personal property tax accounts were mistakenly left off the county rolls, although the accounts were much smaller. The error totaled $152 million, Portmann said Monday.
“When the additional accounts were found, it was disturbing to say the least, but I’m glad we found them,” Portmann said. None of the accounts were finalized or approved for final tax collections, she said.
Leaving out the Kimberly-Clark account meant that other county taxpayers were charged $1.6 million too much.
Officials urge property owners to wait to pay their taxes until corrected bills arrive.
An employee is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, Portmann said.
Further investigation also found PF Chang’s restaurant equipment in Lynnwood was left off the rolls, worth about $684,000. Putting them back on the rolls could take 94 cents off of Lynnwood tax bills.
Other accounts mistakenly left off the tax rolls were spread across the county. They included four other restaurants, an Everett massage and tanning shop, Gleneagle Golf Course in Arlington, a minimart, a manufacturer, retail companies and some Boeing and IBM offices.
Putting them all back on the rolls will reduce property tax bills by $1.88 to $33.18 per property across the county.
“We try really hard to do an excellent job and the mistake was really regrettable,” Portmann said.
Also, taxpayers were overbilled by $91,000 in Fire District 4 in Snohomish. A correction was planned next year, but the $152 million error opened an opportunity to correct the error this year, Portmann said.
The new tax bills in Fire District 4 will be $13.20 lower for the owner of an average $350,000 home.
The Island County Assessor’s Office also found errors in planned tax collections for taxing districts that cross the county lines, though specifics were not available Monday.
Snohomish County mailed property tax bills the week of Feb. 12. Officials discovered the $150.3 million missing from the tax rolls on Feb. 9, but expected to correct tax collections next year.
On Feb. 16, after bills were mailed, Portmann told Treasurer Bob Dantini of the problem with hopes of correcting the error through refunds or credits.
Instead, officials last week decided to spend an estimated $130,000 reprinting and mailing corrected property tax bills in coming weeks.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
