Our program got started a little late because of a very entertaining Minister of Fun and an education on patents and uncivilized vs. civilized women giving birth. (You’ll have to ask someone who was there.)
Keith Wllnauer, the Whatcom County Assessor, followed the lighthearted nature of the first part of the meeting with a talk on taxes. He started by sharing his bio. He is a husband, a dad, and a property tax payer. Having said he is a property tax payer he asked us not to search his home on the website as it is already the most visited page on their website. He talked about a tax crossroads coming and the unfortunate collision that will take place causing a dramatic rise in property taxes. He assured us that property tax policy is set by the legislature and the assessor’s office is responsible for the assessed value of properties and the distribution of funds collected. The reasons taxes go up are because:
- Property values go up
- Voter approved initiatives
- “Shifting” in the tax base. (Explained below)
- Legal reasons
Property values are rising and of course that usually means increased taxes.
There continue to be voter-approved propositions.
Shifting is when there is a specific amount of tax they are to collect for a specific budget line item. They may collect $1 million for fire services, for example. Right now with the Hirst Decision there most likely will be a lot of land that goes way down in value meaning the rest of the land will pick up the bill for the $1 million. This lowers some peoples’ taxes while significantly raising others. He also has concerns that Shifting could occur if Cherry Point properties are devalued from rezoning.
Finally, the McCleary fix for schools will levy about $2 billion more on property owners.
All of this was sobering news that governments have a lot of things they want to do but have only one way of funding it. Running out of time for questions Teri promised to have him back again.
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