EVERETT — Any doubts about dropping home values should vanish with notices that the Snohomish County Assessor’s Office mailed out this week.
The new assessments show a countywide 11.6 percent decline, compared to 2008’s assessed values.
“What happened last year in the market is reflected here,” Chief Deputy Assessor Linda Hjelle said. “It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen a drop in the market like this.”
The appraisal — based on Jan. 1 values — is used to calculate next year’s tax bill. A value drop doesn’t mean a lower bill, though.
Taxes depend on voter-approved levies and budgets for fire, water and hospital districts, among others. The assessor’s office is trying to take extra time this year to explain the process.
One of the most common questions from taxpayers is: Could my property taxes go up, even if the value of my house has gone down?
Yes, they can.
Rick and Tamara Shellenberger are worried it will happen to them. A year ago, they received an assessment showing the value of their Clearview home up 2.6 percent. When they received the tax bill this year, it had jumped by 19 percent.
The main culprits were taxes for Monroe School District — up 42.6 percent — and Fire District 7 — up 16.7 percent.
“The school levies that passed in 2008 must be well beyond what any clear-thinking voter must have realized,” reads an e-mail from the Shellenbergers, who opposed the levy. “We willingly pay our taxes every year and certainly could support a 3 to 5 percent increase in property taxes for 2009 to keep our important governmental services going. But this time they really crossed the line with us. A 19 percent increase in property taxes for 2009 is just NOT acceptable.”
Tax bills go out in February. Right now, it’s too early to predict what the taxes will be, Hjelle said. The assessor’s office needs to know the levy rates to calculate tax bills, and those won’t be available until at least the fall.
For the county as a whole, residential property values declined to about $74 billion this year from nearly $83.8 billion last year, the new assessments show.
Not all property decreased in value. Commercial parcels inched up about 1.6 percent, to $27.2 billion compared to about $26.8 billion a year ago. Commercial notices were scheduled to go out in the mail later this month.
Though most of the county’s 279,386 residential parcels — about 85 percent — declined, almost 11 percent held steady and 4 percent appreciated.
“Some of the beach property and waterfront property went up,” said Steve Lightle, the county’s residential appraisal manager.
A low number of property sales this year made it more difficult to do the appraisals, Lightle said. There were 5,906 sales in 2008 and 10,676 in 2007.
The assessor’s office does not factor in short sales, foreclosures or sales to family members. Real estate agents do, though.
The Multiple Listing Service recorded a 14 percent drop in the price of closed home sales during 2008. The average price was $295,000 in January of this year, compared to $344,500 a year earlier, said Nathan Gorton, executive officer of the Snohomish County-Camano Association of Realtors.
Since then, prices have rebounded a bit, to $299,950 at the end of May. That, along with better sales over the past couple of months, gives Gorton hope.
“The sense that I get is that we really are starting to turn the corner,” he said. “The increase in sales tells me that a stabilization of prices isn’t far away.”
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465 or nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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