| FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
The following commonly asked questions and their answers
provide an overview of the Island County Assessor's responsibilities
and the underlying laws by which they were established.
Important facts about the Assessor's Office-
- The Assessor performs the function of an appraiser in
placing a dollar value on your home or other property.
- The total amount of regular property taxes that are
collected do not increase because total assessed values
increase.
- The Assessor does not establish the dollar amount of
taxes that will be collected, but chooses the lowest amount
from a group of state-imposed alternatives.
- The tax rate for each district is either specifically
voted by taxpayers or calculated mathematically by the
Assessor based upon state limitations, budgets submitted
by taxing districts, and the assessed value for the district.
- The Assessor does not bill for or collect property taxes.
The County Treasurer's Office bills and collects taxes.
QUESTIONS:
WHAT
KINDS OF PROPERTY ARE TAXABLE?
Under Washington state law, two types of property are assessed
and taxed.
Real
Property:
Real
property consists of the land, improvements attached
to the land (buildings, manufactured homes, etc.), and
improvements to the land (driveways, utilities, etc.).
How
is Real PropertyAppraised?
Personal
Property:
Taxable personal
property includes agricultural machinery and equipment;
manufacturers', contractors' and logging machinery and
equipment; office machinery and equipment; and supplies
and materials which are not held for sale or do not become
an ingredient or component of an article being produced
for sale. Furniture and fixtures in commercial use, leased
equipment, certain leasehold improvements, franchises
and easements of inter-county public utilities, lessee-owned
improvements on public land and commercial vessels not
subject to excise tax are also assessed and taxed as personal
property.
Many
types of personal property are exempt from taxation. these
include livestock; inventories held solely for resale;
specific intangible property such as money, bonds, stocks
or share of corporations, mortgages, notes and the like;
and the personal effects and household goods in actual
use by their owner.
Although
intangible personal property may not be taxable, in some
cases, intangibles may be used to estimate the value of
real property, especially when the income approach
has been applied.
CLICK
HERE TO FILE PERSONAL PROPERTY LISTING
 
ELECTRONICALLY
How is
Personal Property Appraised?
HOW
IS REAL PROPERTY APPRAISED?
To efficiently and effectively appraise the property in
Island County, the Assessor has hired a trained and experienced
staff of professional
appraisers as provided in Chapter
36.21 RCW. These appraisers specialize in mass
appraisal.
Island
County is an annual county responsible for the appraisal
and apportionment of over 50,000 parcels of real property
each year. Appraisal methods used in Island
County comply with the basic practices and procedures used
in the appraisal profession and rely heavily upon Computer-Assisted
Mass Appraisal (CAMA). Without the aide of reliable
computers and software, the appraisal task would be less
efficient and more costly.
Three
approaches may be used to determine real property value.
they are:
- Market Data: The market data (sales
comparison) approach uses sales of comparable (not identical)
properties and adjusts the sales price for time, location,
and other components of the property that differ to estimate
the value of the subject property. This method is
the most reliable for all property when sufficient sales
of comparable properties exist.
- Cost: The reproduction or replacement
cost new, less accrued depreciation derived from market
analysis is combined with the estimated value of land
based upon sales. Land values may be derived from
sales of similar vacant land or improved land by subtracting
the estimated value of improvements from sales prices.
- Income: The income approach relies
upon the capitalization of economic rents or discounted
cash flow analysis. Income data is collected for
commercial properties to estimate market rents and market
expenses. Sales are used to develop an appropriate
capitalization rate.
These approaches
are applied as follows:
- Any combination of the three approaches may be applied,
in appraising real property.
- The Income and Cost approaches are given greater weight
in the appraisal of improved commercial and industrial
properties.
- The market data and cost approaches are given greater
weight in the appraisal of improved residential properties.
- The value of vacant land is most often determined using
the market data or sales comparison approach.
- All three approaches rely upon market evidence, primarily
sales.
Whenever
the Assessor revalues your property, you will receive a
"Valuation Change Notice" . What causes
property values to change?
Real Property
^
HOW
IS PERSONAL PROPERTY APPRAISED?
Most personal property assessments are based on information
provided by the taxpayer on personal property affidavit
forms furnished by the Assessor. The affidavits are mailed
to established accounts by January 1 each year, and must
be returned to the Assessor by April 30. Affidavits for
new business reporting for the first time may be mailed
after January 1. Extensions of filing date are not
granted . A tax penalty of 5% per month will be
applied to affidavits received after April 30. The Assessor
may waive the penalty if the late filing is due to reasonable
cause. A penalty of 25% of the tax due in the following
year will be applied for failure to file an affidavit.
The Assessor uses information provided by the taxpayer to
determine value, taking into consideration the age, cost,
and type of property. When the affidavit is processed and
the property valued and entered on the assessment roll,
a Personal Property Assessment Notice
is mailed to the taxpayer.
Personal
Property^
IS PROPERTY
ASSESSED AT FULL VALUE?
Yes, state law requires property to be assessed at 100%
of its true
and fair value (also called market value) unless otherwise
provided by law. Some properties are taxed at less
than market value because the owners are entitled to one
or more exemption
programs. The appraisal process is the responsibility
of the Assessor, who values property on a cyclical basis
according to a revaluation plan filed with the State Department
of Revenue. In Island County, revaluations have been done
every year since 1985. All Assessors in the state
are required appraise all taxable property annually by the
year 2013.
WHAT DETERMINES
THE PROPERTY TAX AMOUNT?
The cost of local government determines how much property
tax will be levied. These costs include operating costs
of schools; city and county government; and other taxing
districts such as county, county roads, library, hospital,
fire and sewer districts. All property taxes fund
local governement.
Regular
taxing districts submit requests to the Assessor
who ensures that the lawful limits
for the levies have not been exceeded. If they are,
the Assessor will select the the appropriate levy amount
by applying the six levy constraints below:
A
large portion of each property tax dollar goes to pay off
bonds or special levies voted in by citizens for such capital
costs as school buildings and other public projects.
In
2009, the portion of each tax bill that was "voter
imposed" ranged from 32% to 47% depending
upon the districts in which your property is located.
HOW ARE PROPERTY
TAX LEVIES ESTABLISHED?
The State Constitution, statutory levy limits set by the
legislature, and excess levies approved by the voters are
used to calculate the total property tax levy.
The
tax rate on your property is determined
by dividing the dollar amount required for the taxing district
by the total taxable value of property within the district,
and then adding up the rates of the various districts in
which your district is located.
The assessed value
of your property multiplied by the combined rate produces
a tax amount which is your fair share of the total property
tax levy in your area. The Island County Treasurer issues
tax statements and taxes are paid to the Island County Treasurer's
Office.
For a
quick outline of the taxation process, click TAXATION.
WHAT
ARE THE LEGAL PROPERTY TAX LIMITS?
Of the six limits
listed below, the one that yeilds the lowest property tax
determines how much tax will be collected for each regular
levy.
The
1% constitutional limit:
The
primary limitation on property taxes was established by
amendment to the Washington State Constitution in 1972.
Article 7, Section 2 of the Constitution RCW 84.52.050
limits the total regular property tax levy to a
maximum of $10.00 per $1,000 of the market value of property.
Excluded from this limit are levies for ports and public
utility districts as well as voted special levies
which are not regular levies.
Statutory
maximum rate for districts:
RCW
84.52.043 establishes maximum levy rate for the types
of taxing districts (the state, counties, cities and towns,
fire districts and the like). In addition, the statute
establishes a maximum aggregate rate of $5.90 per $1,000
of assessed value for counties, cities, fire districts,
library districts and certain other junior taxing districts.
The state levy for support of common schools is not subject
to the $5.90 limit, although it is subject to the constitutional
$10 limit.
The
101% limit:
In
1971, RCW Chapter 84.55 established a limitation on the
increase on regular property taxes for taxing districts.
The current limitation each year for most districts
is 101% of the highest, lawful levy since 1985, plus an
additional amount to allow for new construction within
the district. Thus, if a district's maximum
levy were $1,000,000, the 101% limit would allow them
to increase to $1,010,000 the following year.
The
101% limit applies to the total amount of revenue collected
for a taxing district, not to an individual's property
tax.
With
majority voter approval, districts may increase their
budgets or levies in excess of the 101% limit. If
approved, such a vote would allow the district to exercise
more levy authority for at least one year.
These
"Lid Lifts" as they are called, may be temporary
(by default) or permanent. The 1% constitutional
limit and the statutory maximum rates may not be exceeded,
regardless of voter approval, unless the district has
been specifically excluded by statute.
Resolutions:
Each
district is required to make a resolution each year if
they plan to apply the rules for an increase under the
101% levy limit.
The district
is limited to the lower of 101% of the previous highest
lawful levy or 1+ the Implicit
Price Deflator for Personal Consumption Expenditures (IPD),
as of July of the year preceding the tax year. If
the IPD
were .8%, then the resolution could be no more than 100.8%
instead of the 101% that would have otherwise been authorized.
Districts
with populations under 10,000 may elect to apply the maximum
101% factor even if the IPD is under 1%. However,
districts with populations over 10,000 would hold to have
a public hearing and pass a second resolution by a super
majority (60%) stating a substantial need existed to exceed
the IPD limit.
If the amount of the resolution is less than the maximum
levy calculated using these limits, they would only be
entitled to collect the lower amount.
Budgets:
The budget
of each district is their certified levy and will override
any other limitation as long as it is lower. Thus,
if a district requests $1,000,000 but budgets for only
$900,000 would be entitled to collect no more than $900,000
in taxes that year.
If
the district's budget exceeds the resolution, they would
be limited to collecting the amount authorized in the
resolution, even if they would have otherwise been entitled
to collect the higher amount.
If
a district fails to certify their budget for the levy,
they are not entitled to collect any taxes that year.
Excess
levies:
Most
districts can submit propositions for additional property
tax levies to a vote of the people. Local school districts
have no regular levy authority (although funds to cover
basic education are allocated to them from the
statewide school levy), so they receive a substantial
portion of their funding from voter-approved excess levies.
Article
VII, Section 2 of the Washington State Constitution, LIMITATION
ON LEVIES, requires that excess levies be authorized by
a 60% (three-fifths) majority of the voters. Excess
levies may also be subject to the statutory rates and
other limitations described above.
Voters recently
chose to remove the 60% majority requirement from school
district maintenance and operation levies, changing it
to a simple majority instead.
WHAT
HAPPENS IF A DISTRICT ASKS FOR MORE?
The
regular levy for each taxing district is reviewed by the
Assessor for compliance with the 101% limit, and the $5.90
and the 1% limits before the levy is made. If the district
requests more than the statutory or 101% limits, then their
levy is reduced by the Assessor to a lawful amount.
The
statutes establish a district hierarchy for rate reductions
if the aggregate limits (statutory district rate limits,
1% constitutional limit, the $5.90 aggregate limit) are
exceeded. The rates for the districts would
be reduced by the Assessor according to the proscribed formulas,
if any of these limits were to be exceeded.
If
the Assessor were to discover that any levy limits had been
erroneously exceeded in a prior year, due to errors in the
calculations, the error must be corrected either in the
following year, or within three years at the request of
the affected taxing district or districts. Even errors
that caused a previous levy to be too low must be corrected.
Only errors discovered within three years of the
error having occurred may be corrected.
WHY
DO THE TAX RATES SHOWN ON MY TAX STATEMENT DIFFER FROM MY
NEIGHBOR'S?
The Island County
Assessor calculates the property tax rate for each taxing
district and the appropriate tax for each tax payer in that
district each year. Everyone located in a particular
taxing district pays exactly the same rate for that district.
The Island County
Tax statement no longer allows the taxpayer to verify the
tax calculation by multiplying the rate times the value
of the property, because the tax rate is no
longer listed on the tax statement .
The Island County Teasurer, who issues the tax statement,
chose to remove the tax rates from the tax statement and
replace them with an unrelated percentage.
The
percentages shown on your tax statement are not the tax
rate. These percentages reflect
only the percentage of your total tax bill that a
particular district receives; it is not the same thing as
the tax rate.
Your property tax
statement may include fixed fees or other taxes not based
upon value, which would account for the differing percentages
from one tax statement to the next. Thus, the percentage
can change from one tax statement to another and in most
cases, cannot reliably be expected to agree with the percentages
shown on any other tax statement.
You can manually
calculate the approximate tax rate for a particular district
by dividing the tax that you pay the district by the value
of the property being taxed. The actual tax rates
are also shown in the Assessor's
Annual Report that is published each year by the Assessor's
Office.
HOW DO
I APPEAL MY ASSESSED VALUE?
Determining
the market value of your property is a process of evaluating
evidence to reach an opinion of value. Since the final
determination is an opinion, it is subject to dispute.
Always feel
free to contact our office if you disagree with the value
that the Assessor placed upon your property. The appraisal
staff is always interested in any new information about
your property that may not have been available to them at
the time the appraisal was made. Annualy, the appraisers
make adjustments to account for the new information that
you provide and reduce more assessments as a result than
does the board of equalization or board of tax appeals.
If
you decide to appeal the value of your property to the board
of equalization, please take the time to review the Washington
State Department of Revenue publication, Appealing Your
Property Assessment to the County Board of Equalization,
for details about how the board works and how you may want
to proceed with your presentation.
All
appeals of the assessed value of property should first be
directed to the Island
County Board of Equalization. The most
recent appeal
form is available on this site. You may also pick
up a form in the Assessor's office or from the board of
eqaulization, have a form mailed to you, or we can e-mail
it to you.
Decisions
of the Board of Equalization may be appealed to the State
Board of Tax Appeals (SBTA). Some appeals
may be made directly to the State Board of Tax Appeals.
Two
methods of appeal are available at the SBTA:
- Formal - Both sides are typically
represented by attorneys, the rules of evidence apply,
and the final determination may be appealed to Superior
Court. Only evidence presented to the board may
be used in court.
- Informal - A hearing examiner conducts
the hearing, which is similar to the BOE hearing.
The final decision may be challenged by writing an "Exception"
to the decision, which will be reviewed by the full
board. However, there is no further level of appeal
available from this level.
HOW
DO I APPLY FOR AN EXEMPTION?
WHO
MAKES MAPS FOR THE ASSESSOR?
THE ASSESSOR
IS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN COUNTY MAPS
RCW 84.40.160
Manner of listing real estate -- Maps.
"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
The
assessor shall prepare and possess a complete set of maps
drawn to indicate parcel configuration for lands in the
county. The assessor shall continually update the maps
to reflect transfers, conveyances, acquisitions, or any
other transaction or event that changes the boundaries
of any parcel and shall renumber the parcels or prepare
new map pages for any portion of the maps to show combinations
or divisions of parcels. "
Visit our
web-page on Assessor's
Maps.
OTHER
QUESTIONS?
Feel
free to contact the Island County Assessor's Office for
any other questions that you may have. You may e-mail,
write, call, or stop by for a visit between 9:00 AM and
4:00 PM, Monday through Friday, except holidays.
Our mailing address
is:
Island County
Assessor's Office
P.O. Box
5000
Coupeville, WA,
98239-5000
Our phone numbers
are:
360-679-7303
- Our main number is toll-free from Central or North Whidbey
Island.
360-321-5111
- Toll free from South Whidbey Island (ask for Assessor's
Office).
360-629-4522
- Toll free from Camano Island (ask for Assessor's Office).
We are located in Room 208 on the
second floor of the Island County Administration Building
located on the corner of 7th and Main in Coupeville.
The address is 1 NE 7th Street. |
