ST. GEORGE — SEATTLE There will be a rise in property taxes for King County residents this year.
According to the King County Tax Assessor, property values in King County as a whole increased by 21.8% in 2022, but because King County has a “budget-based” property tax collection system, property taxes in King County as a whole increased by only 6.4% that same year.
For years, according to Winona Gram, property taxes in the county have been gradually increasing.
The big increase occurred in 2018. Since then, it has been “constantly rising,” as Gram put it.
Although Gram’s home in Sammamish had been paid off for 30 years, she reported that property taxes had nearly doubled during the previous six years.
A teacher’s income just isn’t enough to cover the cost of living there. Gram explained, “It was too much, so I had to leave.”
My grandmother uprooted from Sammamish and settled down in South King County.
As Gram put it, “having to go somewhere completely new, not familiar with it, was a significant change.” They had been residents of the area for over 30 years.
More and more people in King County might have to face it.
“It’s not just me, there are a lot of other individuals who are getting priced out of where they’ve lived for a very long time,” Gram added.
People like Ron Farrell, who has lived in the same house in King County for almost 20 years.
Taxes have quadrupled in price since Farrell and his family first moved in.
Farrell has spent nearly his entire life in this state, but he is currently considering moving somewhere due to health concerns and the fact that his son is attending college.
“Except for the period I spent serving in the Army. Throughout the past fifty years, I’ve called Washington home. The city of Washington, DC, is one of my favorites.
This place has served as my home for as long as I can remember. Farrel argued that the excessive taxation in his state was counterproductive.
Farrell stated that there are many who are disputing their property’s assessed value with the county.
They’re “trying to say, ‘Here’s all I know, here’s where you evaluate my house, here’s why in today’s market it’s not that much,'” he explained. That’s a lot of hoops to jump through, of bureaucracy.
The tax assessor’s office has stated that the majority of the rise is due to levies that were authorized by the voters.
There was evidence presented by the county that indicated a sizable portion of this year’s property taxes will be allocated to public schools, both municipal and state.
By continually voting for the same candidates, we ensure that nothing changes. We’re agreeing to any and all tax increases, and then complaining about the impact.
The same goes for me; I get angry sometimes. To whom are our tax dollars being remitted? According to what Farrell had said.
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While thinking about the future of the institution, Gram has similar concerns.
“People are going to get angrier and angrier with having to pay the taxes, and then that’s going to influence the schools,” he said, referring to the state’s inadequate funding of education.
