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   DAVID
M. MATTENS, YOUR COUNTY ASSESSOR
(CLICK Picture
or Logo to e-mail)
WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE ASSESSOR?
Dave is the Chair of the Computer Technology Committee for the Washington State Association of County Assessors (WSACA) and is a member of the Ratio-Levy Committee.
Dave was recently honored to be elected Chair of the Puget Sound District at the 113th Annual Conference of WSACA. The Puget Sound District includes the counties of Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish, Skagit, King, and Kitsap.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE OFFICE?
The transition to the new True Automation™ Property Tax software by the Assessor ond Treasurer is now underway. True Automation™, the fastest growing computer software company for property tax and assessment software in the country, has firm contracts with 11 of the 39 counties in Washington State.
The new program will include an integrated new Geographical Information System (GIS), which will allow the public to acccess updated parcel maps and Property Data on-line.
There may be some bumps along the way, and the office may slow down a little as the employees learn and adapt to the new system. The end result will be improved accuracy and efficiency. The public will have immediate access to much more information via the internet, including recent sales.
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to contact us:
Location (Situs):
Administration Bldg
1 NE 7th S t, Room 208
Coupeville, WA 98239-5000
Mailing
Address:
PO Box 5000,
Coupeville, WA 98239-5000
Phones: Office:
360-679-7303
FAX: 360-240-5565
Camano:
360-629-4522
South
Whidbey:
360-321-5111
Office
Hours:
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM,
Monday through Thursday
except
Holidays
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A Message from Dave:
Thank you
for visiting the Island County Assessor's web
site. My office is continually updating this site
to better serve the public. If you have any suggestions
that would improve this site or make it more useful to
you, please let us know.
General
information about our office may be found in the WA State Department
of Revenue brochure, Homeowners'
Guide to Property Taxes
or
an amusing animated
depiction of the office's work-cycle the staff put together
entitledled, Island
County Assessor's World.
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DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR NEW VALUES?
(See Frequently Asked Questions for more answers)
Q: My value decreased from last year, does that mean my property taxes will go down too?
A: No, but if your property decreases more than average, you may see a decrease in your tax bill.
Q: Why did you cause my value to drop so much?
A: The assessor does not cause increases or decreases in value, but instead uses sales and other market evidence to reflect the value of your property as of January 1 each year.
Q: Are the decreases in value affecting the amount of property taxes that the county can collect?
A: With the exception of a small amount generated by new construction and other new improvements, the value changes themselves do not affect the amount of taxes that can be collected by the county or any other taxing district.
Island County had always kept budgets to a bare minimum before property tax increases began to be limited by the legislature. When the 6% limit was imposed, Island County started out and has remained well below other counties.
Subsequent restrictions on levy increases to 2% and then to 1% during periods when the poulation was expanding and costs were increasing up to 6% have contributed to the shortfalls the county is now experiencing.
The statutory tax rate for a county current expense levy is $1.80 per thousand dollars of assessed value. Island County's rate is currently a little over 51¢. At least 2.5¢ and up to 3.625¢ of that represents non-discresionary funds that are "earmarked" by law for things like mental health, developmental disabilities, and verterans assistance. That is a much greater chunk of 51¢ than of $1.80.
Q: How does Island County's Current Expense Levy compare with other counties throughout the state?
Of the 39 counties in the State of Washington, Island County is ranked:
- 10th in total value,
- 14th in total population,
- 19th in total levy,
- 36th in property tax per capita, and
- 39th in tax rate.
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| ABOUT
ISLAND COUNTY:
Island
County, Washington has a land area of approximately 210
square miles, about 309 square miles of water, 8 zip codes,
and is one of the most densely populated of the 39 counties
in the state. Because the county is composed
of islands, the actual land measurements can change as
a result of tidal accretion or erosion.
Although
it is the next to the smallest county in the state, Island
County is ranked 14th in overall population of the 39
counties, accounting for its high population density.
Island County
officially consists of nine islands located in the Puget
Sound. Three of the islands, Whidbey, Camano,
and Ben Ure, are inhabited. All three of its incorporated
cities, Oak Harbor, Coupeville, and Langley, are located
on Whidbey Island.
Roughly
60 % of the county is water and includes all or portions
of Deception Pass, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Admiralty
Inlet, Admiralty Bay, Mutiny Bay, Useless Bay, Cultus
Bay, Dugualla Bay, Skagit Bay, Posession Sound, Holmes
Harbor, Crescent Harbor, Penn Cove, Elger Bay, Livingston
Bay, Skagit Bay, Dugualla Bay, Triangle Cove, Saratoga
Passage, and Port Susan.
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INHABITED ISLANDS:
WHIDBEY
ISLAND is the largest island
in Island County. It is approximately 45 miles long
and covers approximately 170 square miles or 108,800 acres.
Whidbey
Island has approximately 271.09 miles of shoreline:
24.91
miles owned by the US government,
73.35
miles owned by the state,
8.77
miles owned by the county,
5.93
miles owned by cities or towns, and
158.13
miles that are privately owned.
Whidbey
Island is the largest and longest island in Washington
and on the Pacific coast of the lower 48 states. Three
islands in the lower 48 states;
Long
Island, NY;
Padre
Island, TX;
and
Isle
Royale, MI
are
larger. Both Long Island, NY and Padre Island, TX
are longer, while Isle Royale is roughly the same length.
Whidbey
Island was named for Joseph Whidbey, a sailing master
with the (English) Royal Navy during the Vancouver Expedition.
CAMANO
ISLAND is the second largest island in Island County,
covering approximately 39.8 square miles or 25,472 acres.
It is part of the Stanwood Camano School District and
has two schools on the Island.
Camano
Island has approximately 79.02 miles of shoreline.
Camano
Island was named for Jacinto Caamaño Moraleja, a Spanish
explorer. Camano Island was at one time named MacDonough
Island after Thomas MacDonough of the Wilke's Expedition.
The body of water between Whidbey Island and Camano Island
was named Saratoga Passage after MacDonough's flagship,
the Saratoga.
BEN URE
ISLAND is the third inhabited island in
the county and is divided into seventeen lots. It
is accessible only by boat and only two of the residences
are occupied full time. The Washington State Parks
and Recreation Department has been acquiring the lots,
and most of the Island is now part of Deception Pass State
Park, including the two permanent residences and a cabin
that can be rented by the public.
Ben Ure
Island was named for a notorious smuggler of Chinese immigrants during
the 1880's.
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UNINHABITED
ISLANDS:
The remaining
six islands in Island County are uninhabited. Officially,
they include: Baby, Deception, Kalamut, Smith, Minor,
and Strawberry Islands.
Smith
Island has a navigational light and a weather station
operated by NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration). Another Smith Island in
Washington lies at the mouth of the Snohomish River
and is part of the river's delta.
Minor
Island is next to and sometimes attached to Smith
Island during low tide. It too has a navigational
light.
Stawberry Island is approximately 3.8 acres in area,
has about 1750 feet of waterfront, lies just north of
Ben Ure Island in Deception Pass. It is part of
Deception Pass State Park, and is one of three Strawberry
Islands in the state of Washington.
Both
Skagit and Franklin counties have a Strawberry Island,
too.
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Skagit
County's Strawberry Island is located just west of
Cypress Island and is one of the San Juan islands.
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Franklin
County's Strawberry Island is part of the McNary National
Wildlife Refuge and lies in the Snake River near Pasco
and the Columbia River.
Strawberry
Island was originally named Hautboy Island after
a variety of wild strawberries discovered on the island
by Charles Wilkes, during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842.
Eventually, it came to be known merely as Strawberry Island.
Deception Island
is located northwest of Whidbey Island and is also part
of the Deception Pass State Park. It is the picture
shown at the beginning of this section.
Baby Island
is a small, sandy island east of Greenbank and slightly
north of Rocky Point. Holmes Harbor abuts the
west shore and Saratoga Passage to the east. At
some low tides, Baby Island appears to be connected
to Whidbey Island.
Kalamut
Island, located near Oak Harbor, does not appear
on any aerial or satellite photos of the area, and is
listed as "historical" (no longer exists)
by the United States Geological Survey in their Geographic
Names Information System (Feature
ID 1514645).
Although it's name means "stone" or "rocky
ground." it appears to have been a small sandbar
that has washed away since its discovery.
During
some low tides, both Baby
Island and Minor Island connect
to Whidbey and Smith Islands, respectively. It
is then possible to walk to them. During some
high tides, they may be completely covered by water.
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| POPULATION
GROWTH:
Island County
is the 5th most densely populated county in Washington
state. It ranks 14th of the thirty-nine counties
in overall population, but is next to the smallest in
land mass.
Although
the overall growth rate in Island County has been about
average for the state, the population of people 65
and older increased by 41% since the year 2000.
That was the 6th highest increase among the thirty-nine
counties in the state.
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| HOUSING
GROWTH:
The
increase in the number of residential housing units in
Island County since the year 2000 exceeded the state average
by about 36%. Kittitas, Whatcom, Mason and Island
Counties experienced around 19% average growth in residential
housing units since the year 2000. Only Franklin,
Clark, and Thurston Counties had higher percentage growth
in housing units during that time period.
Increase
in Housing Units in
Island County
Compared
to the Average for the
State
of Washington |
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2000
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2008
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Percentage
Increase |
| Total
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32,378
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38,446
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19%
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| Unincorporated
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23,250
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27,646
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19%
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| Incorporated
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9,128
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10,800
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18%
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| Coupeville
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814
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924
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14%
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| Langley
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542
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625
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15%
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| Oak
Harbor |
7,772
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9,251
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19%
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WASINGTON
STATE AVERAGE |
2,451,081
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2,805,340
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14%
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Other Island
County Statistics
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| Source
of Population, Growth, and Housing Statistics:
Population
Trends 2008
State
of Washington
Office
of Financial Management
Forecasting
Division
Olympia,
WA 98504-3113
September
1, 2008
www.ofm.wa.gov
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