The Klickitat County Assessor's Office now has hard numbers to back up its claim last year that the recent property revaluations for the west end of the county would not be as dramatic as many feared.
Although property values increased substantially in last year's revaluations, the levy rate did in fact decrease, helping to ease some of the sting of property tax increases.
The Assessor's Office released levy rates comparing 2009 to 2008. Those rates showed that in the White Salmon district, the levy rate per $1,000 of valuation went from 10.26 in 2008 to 7.62 percent in 2009. For Bingen properties, the levy rate per $1,000 dropped from 10.80 in 2008 to 8.26 in 2009.
"Even though the rate goes down, people will see a tax increase -- but not in the same proportion as how the assessments went up," said Klickitat County Assessor Van Vandenberg. "The tax bills will go up some, but not as much as the property values went up."
"The way I understand it, as the assessed values go up, the levy rate goes down because the size of the pie stays the same," said Klickitat County Commissioner Rex Johnston. "That's why the taxes go up, but it's not a big jump. And we use the landfill money to buy down taxes for county residents. We do what we can to keep property taxes as low as possible."
Nevertheless, the final tax bills now being sent out seem likely to hit residents around the west end of the county hard. One county property owner, who declined to give her name, found out what her bill was going to be and was distraught.
"I'll have to have a loan just to pay my property taxes," she said. "My half-year taxes this year are almost what my taxes were for the full year last year."
She said her home and property was appraised at $115,100 in the latest round of revaluations, in 2004, but was appraised at $251,600 in 2008.
She explained that her property tax bill for 2009 will be $2,192.85. In 2008, based on the 2004 valuation, she paid $1,304.40. That extra $888.45 in taxes represents a 40.5 percent increase in her tax bill for the year.
On Monday, Vandenberg said he had not heard of any sharp property tax increases in the property tax bills for county residents.
"The highest increase I saw was where someone went from about $1,300 for the year to $1,700," he said.
Vandenberg said an increase like that was not excessive, given the increase in property values between 2004 and 2008, the period covered in the latest revaluations.
"That's $400 over a four-year period, and that doesn't sound like too much to me. If it had been an annual revaluation, they would have seen an increase of about $100 a year," Vandenberg pointed out.
Johnston added that the county does not gain a huge infusion of tax revenues despite the increased valuations.
"No, there isn't a windfall," Johnston explained. "The county only gets a small portion of that. The vast majority goes to the state."
Johnston pointed out that, so far at least, he is hearing less dissatisfaction from property owners around the county than he did when the revaluations were first issued last year.
"I've talked to a few people, and they seemed to think the levy rates were pretty decent -- they were down quite a bit," he said. "Taxes will go up some, but not like anybody thought. I hope they will be happy with that, but who knows."
However, there have been some complaints from citizens who appealed their property valuations, won their cases, then saw the county Assessor's Office turn around and appeal their victories.
"In some cases, the Board of Equalization lowered the assessed value for some people and that lowered their tax rates," Johnston said. "In many of those cases, the Assessor's Office appealed the Board of Equalization's decisions to the state; they didn't think those reassessments were right."
One of those whose case is being appealed is White Salmon resident Richard Lyons, a teacher at Henkle Middle School.
He said when the assessed value of his home went from about $150,000 four years ago to $260,000 in last year's round of valuations, he decided to appeal.
"I went in front of the Board of Equalization and presented my case. I researched the value of homes in a seven-block radius of my home, and nothing had sold for over $210,000. One house right up the street, twice the size of mine, sold for $175,000. I took all this and showed them. They lowered my assessment by a little over $40,000, and I was happy with that."
But then Lyons found out that the county Assessor's Office was appealing his readjustment.
"A couple weeks ago I got a letter from the state saying the Klickitat County Assessor's Office was appealing my appeal. I have to show up for the appeal in April," Lyons said.
"In our opinion, the Board of Equalization made some errors," Vandenberg explained. "There were any number of reasons for our appeals, but most of our appeals were because we believe the Board erred in making an adjustment."
Johnston pointed out that the County Commissioners have no say when it comes to whether there are appeals or not.
"We as County Commissioners have no control over the Assessor's Office, or the Treasurer's Office, or the Sheriff's Office," he said. "We can't tell them, `you do this or that.' They run their own departments; they are elected officials, same as we are."
Vandenberg said the appeals will be heard by the state Board of Tax Appeals this spring, and the hearings will be in White Salmon.
"People will not have to travel," he said.
The cases will be handled one by one, with each appeal session lasting about 30-45 minutes, according to Vandenberg.
Lyons added that he didn't appreciate the way his concerns about the appeals were handled.
"I called Mike McBride (chief appraiser in the county Auditor's Office) and told him I'm a school teacher and it is difficult to get time off, especially in April because the schools are doing state testing. He just said, `don't show up; I'll win.' I spoke to others who appealed, and he's taking them all to court."
Lyons said the appeals made no sense from a financial standpoint.
"For the little difference in taxes the county will gain compared to the cost to taxpayers to hear all these cases again, it makes no sense," he said. "I don't understand why the county is trying to stick it to the little guy in a time like this."
Because the housing market has collapsed over recent months, Lyons said common sense should indicate that last year's higher appraisals were inaccurate.
"It's at the point where it seems very personal," Lyons said. "I came with my ducks in a row and had done my research, and the Board of Equalization agreed with me. With our economy like it is -- my wife recently lost her job -- it's crazy for the little amount they would get in taxes versus the amount spent to hear all these cases."
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