The brightly colored envelopes arrive around Valentine’s Day but their contents don’t necessarily carry a message of love and affection.
Most property owners in Western Washington received their annual property assessments in the mail last week, prompting the immediate questions:
“How do I go about appealing my property taxes? What are the deadlines?”
July 1 is usually the last day to appeal your county property-tax assessments. However, some counties have been late in issuing valuations in the past. Appeals postmarked July 1 or 30 days after the county sends them out will be accepted.
Appeals must be with the Board of Equalization, typically located in the county administration building. Appeal forms are available at the office. A hearing will then be set. If the consumer or the assessor’s office is not satisfied with the equalization board’s decision, either may appeal within 30 days to the State Board of Tax Appeals.
Property taxes for the first half of the year are due on or before April 30, but may be paid up to Oct. 30th with interest penalty on the entire year’s tax. The taxes for the second half of the year are due October 31.
In previous years, approximately 50 percent of property owners in western Washington counties who appealed got their property taxes lowered. The equalization board advises filing an appeal if the taxable value shown on your tax statement is higher than the price you could expect if you sold your property. The most common way to determine a property’s worth is by comparable sales prices.
As home prices go up, so do property tax assessments. The market value of Puget Sound homes typically have been higher than the worth assigned for county tax-assessment purposes. The state also has done a decent job of providing the county assessors the ability to reduce or defer property taxes for senior citizens and disabled persons. This program exempts these taxpayers from all excess levies and may exempt a portion of regular levies on your primary residence and up to one acre of land. Excess levies are approved by the voters and include school construction bonds and maintenance of operation levies.
All Western Washington counties have their own Internet home page and most now have a common-form address to ascertain senior and disabled people’s discounts, assessed values, maps, ordinances, covenants and countless consumer tips. In some counties, consumers only need a street address to access a variety of information about the property, including information collected by the county assessor’s office and a history of sales.
When the assessment arrives, don’t be surprised to get a call from a real-estate appraiser or tax researcher. His pitch will be that your property valuation is too high and will offer to represent you before the County Board of Equalization. He probably will boast a good track record in previous appeal cases and thought he could get the valuation significantly reduced.
The going rate for this service typically runs 50 percent of the tax savings for the next two years – or about $400 for me the last time I was contacted.
He wanted a $200 retainer, which would be subtracted from his total.
The idea of paying a professional property appraiser $400 for a tax savings that may extend for years often is a good one. I know it would appeal to the average consumer who wants nothing to do with fighting government. The fee could be a bargain given the time and preparation it would take most taxpayers to compile and present such a case.
However, be sure to get in writing what happens if the appeal fails. If the appraiser wants to be paid for “his time,” agree upon a figure before accepting. You could learn the hard way that some people’s time is worth a lot more than others.
Tom Kelly hosts “Real Estate Today” from 11 a.m.-noon Sundays on 710 KIRO-AM. Send questions and comments to news@tomkelly.com
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