By Jim Haley
Herald Writer
It’s as certain as death and taxes. You get a missive from the Snohomish County Assessor’s Office every four years telling you something you seldom want to know.
The notice proclaims how much the county thinks your home and land it’s on are worth. The fair market value almost always shoots up.
That may be just fine and dandy if you’re about to sell, but most folks dread opening the letter.
Your property taxes are calculated on the value of the property, so the result in most cases is a hike in how much you pay to support your city, school district, the county and a variety of special taxing districts.
But what if you dispute the value the county places on your home?
It’s possible to file an appeal with the Snohomish County Board of Equalization, an independent panel appointed to judge whether you can make a good case for lowering your assessed value.
It really does have to be a good case to succeed, said board clerk Marsha Carlsen. But a few citizens prevail.
"They can’t contest the taxes. They can only contest the assessed value" of the property, Carlsen said.
Assessor Gail Rauch stressed that her office doesn’t revalue property with the idea of getting more money for government.
"We re-evaluate because it’s the law we have to re-evaluate every so many years."
The county’s on a four-year cycle. The north part of the county was revalued this year, and the Everett-Mukilteo area is next in 2002 for the 2003 tax year, Rauch said.
The last time values went down in part of the county was in the early 1990s during a recession, Rauch said.
The number of property owners who file appeals varies from year to year. There were about 700 last year, and Carlsen expects between 400 and 500 appeals this year.
The bulk of the appeals come from recently revalued properties. Right now, most of inquiries are coming from the Arlington and Stanwood areas, Carlsen said.
You can’t wait forever to file an appeal. Your notice of property value change will have a date at the top, and you have 30 days from that date to file the appeal forms. However, it’s frequently a good idea to contact the assessor’s office to have your questions answered before you go to the trouble of filing an appeal, Carlsen said.
If you miss the deadline for this year, you can try again the next year.
"The Board of Equalization is here as an aid to assist taxpayers in filing their petitions. We are separate from the assessor’s office," Carlsen said.
The assessor’s office regularly schedules meetings in various parts of the county to discuss specifics of the valuation arrived at by the county. Carlsen said people who attend those meetings to learn how assessments were made and can meet with someone from Rauch’s office. At that time, it’s possible to explain circumstances at the property or within the neighborhood and possibly get a second look by the assessor, Rauch said.
If you appeal, remember that the burden of proof is on you to show that the assessment is above fair market value. That usually means comparing your property with recent sales in your neighborhood, Carlsen said.
"It is difficult for (property owners) to prove, but it is possible, and people do it," she added.
The law doesn’t recognize financial hardship or the fact you didn’t get a raise this year, she said.
Rauch said perhaps 2 percent of the folks who follow through on appeals get an adjustment from the board. But if you think you’re in the right, follow through, Carlsen added.
"I don’t want to discourage them, because it is their right," she said.
You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447 or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.
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