Waterbuffalo
08-15-2008, 09:44 PM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008115235_assessor15m.html
By Keith Ervin, Seattle Times staff reporter
Pamela and Michael Nugent got a shock when the King County assessor told them their Renton home is worth $154,000 more than it was valued at last year.
That's a 43 percent increase in assessed value in a year when the median Southeast King County home price has dropped 9 percent.
The Nugents, both retired from Boeing, are wondering how the assessed value of their home could go up so much in a distressed real-estate market.
They're also worried that, for the second time since they bought the house on Benson Hill in 2004, their property taxes may go up by more than $1,000 in a single year.
"Who's running this ship?" Pamela Nugent said. "I just don't understand the logic in these valuations. I have a business degree and I just don't get it."
The Nugents aren't alone.
Since the assessor began mailing out valuation notices in May, more than 1,800 homeowners have filed appeals with the Board of Equalization — compared with 750 at this point last year — and appeals are on pace to set a record, said board clerk/manager Dave Goff.
The Board of Equalization says more than half the appeals result in valuations being lowered.
"Looking at all the reports in the national media, they're expecting a reduction and they're getting an increase," Goff said. "That's the most prevalent thing we're hearing. It's certainly understandable."
The last notices from the assessor are expected to be mailed out by the end of this month. Property owners have 60 days to appeal.
The Nugents were hit with a steeper increase in assessed value than most. Although final numbers aren't yet available, the assessor's office says assessed values are rising an average 10 to 12 percent.
In Snohomish County, where home prices began to fall before those in King County, Assessor Cindy Portmann reported a 1.9 percent drop in assessed values this year.
King County revalues all properties every year and conducts physical inspections of properties on average once every six years.
In the Nugents' "South Renton/Kent" appraisal area, the average increase was 13.9 percent. Rural areas east of the Snoqualmie Valley jumped 27.6 percent.
The 2008 valuations — which will be used to apportion taxes in 2009 — are going up in a down real-estate market because they represent home values as of Jan. 1, 2008. Those values were calculated by looking at prices paid for nearby properties over the prior three years, a period intended to ease big swings in valuation.
Under state law, appraisers can't consider this year's sales. The median price of single-family homes sold in King County last month was $445,000, down from $481,000 price a year earlier, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The downturn won't be reflected in assessed values until next year, Assessor Scott Noble said. "That is pretty much what we do all the time — we play catch-up," he said.
Higher assessed values don't necessarily mean higher taxes, if your property goes up at the same rate as your neighbors'. That's because state law limits how much money tax districts can collect without a vote. When assessed values rise, the tax rate typically goes down.
But when the Nugents' assessed value went up a whopping 39 percent in 2005, so did their 2006 taxes — from $2,867 to $3,994.
Now, facing what could be an even bigger one-year tax jump, the Nugents aren't sure how they'll make ends meet. Michael talks about cutting out trips to places like Lake Chelan and the coast, Pamela about spending less on groceries.
"Now we find out what fixed income really means," Michael said.
The Nugents, like many of their neighbors, plan to appeal their valuation. Twenty-seven of their neighbors wrote letters of protest to the assessor and to Gov. Christine Gregoire.
A few miles away, 20 residents of the Redondo area of Federal Way met Tuesday night to talk about their homes' skyrocketing assessed values.
Boeing employee Rick Schwartz and his wife, Delore, a teaching assistant, are fighting the revaluation of their Redondo waterfront home from $969,000 to $1.4 million. That 47 percent increase is larger than some neighbors got, smaller than others.
The couple bought their lot in 1984 for $150,000 then added a new home in the 1990s.
"A lot of people will have to move," Rick Schwartz said. "They're walking a thin line. I'm walking a thin line. My taxes will go up from $11,000 to $17,000 by my calculation. That's about $430 a month. My wages aren't going up that much."
He thinks there should be a cap on how much an assessed value can go up in one year.
Debra Prins, director of the assessor's residential division, said the value of the Schwartzes' property went up so much in part because an appraiser upgraded their Puget Sound view — which according to Rick has not changed — from good to excellent.
The Nugents' house increased in value partly because investors have been buying nearby properties and redeveloping at higher densities. The Nugents and their neighbors object that without sewers, their properties won't be redeveloped anytime soon.
"They're robbing us — plain and simple," said Elizabeth Christman, who with her husband, Dave, owns a vacant half-acre Benson Hill lot that was revalued this year from $35,000 to $205,000.
The assessor's office encourages citizens to call if they have questions or believe valuations were based on faulty assumptions. The Nugents' valuation was reduced by $8,000 to $506,000 recently after they pointed out the county mistakenly listed an unfinished storage loft as living space.
If a phone call doesn't satisfy owners, Prins said, they should appeal to the Board of Equalization.
"Our responsibility is to value the property at market; what we believe is what you could sell the property for in January, using the best information we have available," Prins said. "Part of the value of the appeal process is it gives us an opportunity to take another look at the property."
As the Nugents and Schwartzes were preparing their appeals, both came up with the same suggestion to the county: If you really think our properties are worth what you've valued them at, please buy them. We'd be glad to sell at those prices.
By Keith Ervin, Seattle Times staff reporter
Pamela and Michael Nugent got a shock when the King County assessor told them their Renton home is worth $154,000 more than it was valued at last year.
That's a 43 percent increase in assessed value in a year when the median Southeast King County home price has dropped 9 percent.
The Nugents, both retired from Boeing, are wondering how the assessed value of their home could go up so much in a distressed real-estate market.
They're also worried that, for the second time since they bought the house on Benson Hill in 2004, their property taxes may go up by more than $1,000 in a single year.
"Who's running this ship?" Pamela Nugent said. "I just don't understand the logic in these valuations. I have a business degree and I just don't get it."
The Nugents aren't alone.
Since the assessor began mailing out valuation notices in May, more than 1,800 homeowners have filed appeals with the Board of Equalization — compared with 750 at this point last year — and appeals are on pace to set a record, said board clerk/manager Dave Goff.
The Board of Equalization says more than half the appeals result in valuations being lowered.
"Looking at all the reports in the national media, they're expecting a reduction and they're getting an increase," Goff said. "That's the most prevalent thing we're hearing. It's certainly understandable."
The last notices from the assessor are expected to be mailed out by the end of this month. Property owners have 60 days to appeal.
The Nugents were hit with a steeper increase in assessed value than most. Although final numbers aren't yet available, the assessor's office says assessed values are rising an average 10 to 12 percent.
In Snohomish County, where home prices began to fall before those in King County, Assessor Cindy Portmann reported a 1.9 percent drop in assessed values this year.
King County revalues all properties every year and conducts physical inspections of properties on average once every six years.
In the Nugents' "South Renton/Kent" appraisal area, the average increase was 13.9 percent. Rural areas east of the Snoqualmie Valley jumped 27.6 percent.
The 2008 valuations — which will be used to apportion taxes in 2009 — are going up in a down real-estate market because they represent home values as of Jan. 1, 2008. Those values were calculated by looking at prices paid for nearby properties over the prior three years, a period intended to ease big swings in valuation.
Under state law, appraisers can't consider this year's sales. The median price of single-family homes sold in King County last month was $445,000, down from $481,000 price a year earlier, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The downturn won't be reflected in assessed values until next year, Assessor Scott Noble said. "That is pretty much what we do all the time — we play catch-up," he said.
Higher assessed values don't necessarily mean higher taxes, if your property goes up at the same rate as your neighbors'. That's because state law limits how much money tax districts can collect without a vote. When assessed values rise, the tax rate typically goes down.
But when the Nugents' assessed value went up a whopping 39 percent in 2005, so did their 2006 taxes — from $2,867 to $3,994.
Now, facing what could be an even bigger one-year tax jump, the Nugents aren't sure how they'll make ends meet. Michael talks about cutting out trips to places like Lake Chelan and the coast, Pamela about spending less on groceries.
"Now we find out what fixed income really means," Michael said.
The Nugents, like many of their neighbors, plan to appeal their valuation. Twenty-seven of their neighbors wrote letters of protest to the assessor and to Gov. Christine Gregoire.
A few miles away, 20 residents of the Redondo area of Federal Way met Tuesday night to talk about their homes' skyrocketing assessed values.
Boeing employee Rick Schwartz and his wife, Delore, a teaching assistant, are fighting the revaluation of their Redondo waterfront home from $969,000 to $1.4 million. That 47 percent increase is larger than some neighbors got, smaller than others.
The couple bought their lot in 1984 for $150,000 then added a new home in the 1990s.
"A lot of people will have to move," Rick Schwartz said. "They're walking a thin line. I'm walking a thin line. My taxes will go up from $11,000 to $17,000 by my calculation. That's about $430 a month. My wages aren't going up that much."
He thinks there should be a cap on how much an assessed value can go up in one year.
Debra Prins, director of the assessor's residential division, said the value of the Schwartzes' property went up so much in part because an appraiser upgraded their Puget Sound view — which according to Rick has not changed — from good to excellent.
The Nugents' house increased in value partly because investors have been buying nearby properties and redeveloping at higher densities. The Nugents and their neighbors object that without sewers, their properties won't be redeveloped anytime soon.
"They're robbing us — plain and simple," said Elizabeth Christman, who with her husband, Dave, owns a vacant half-acre Benson Hill lot that was revalued this year from $35,000 to $205,000.
The assessor's office encourages citizens to call if they have questions or believe valuations were based on faulty assumptions. The Nugents' valuation was reduced by $8,000 to $506,000 recently after they pointed out the county mistakenly listed an unfinished storage loft as living space.
If a phone call doesn't satisfy owners, Prins said, they should appeal to the Board of Equalization.
"Our responsibility is to value the property at market; what we believe is what you could sell the property for in January, using the best information we have available," Prins said. "Part of the value of the appeal process is it gives us an opportunity to take another look at the property."
As the Nugents and Schwartzes were preparing their appeals, both came up with the same suggestion to the county: If you really think our properties are worth what you've valued them at, please buy them. We'd be glad to sell at those prices.