Property Taxes- In the news…

Many of you have expressed your displeasure in the high tax evaluations from last year. The Seattle Times recently wrote an article on this topic. Some of the article is below and under that I have a link to a blog post that gives step-by-step instructions on how to challenge your taxes.

Seattle Times: Property taxes: Appeals shoot up is King, Snohomish Counties

Homeowners complained in near-record numbers about high valuations last year. Appeals of property values shot up more than threefold in King County, from 3,767 in 2007 to 13,156 in 2008. The last time there were that many appeals was 1991, when a sluggish real-estate market followed several years of rapidly climbing home values.

Appeals also increased in Snohomish County last year — from 1,688 to 2,347.

Appeals resulted in lowered values about half the time in King County and about a third of the time in Snohomish County, according to the assessors.

A good source on how to challenge your property taxes: http://seattlebubble.com/blog/2009/02/04/how-to-challenge-your-property-taxes/