In 2013, an Island County resident owning (or, mortgaging) $100,000 of real property (land – with no residence on it) in unincorporated North Whidbey Island now pays $868.40 annually in property taxes and property assessments: an increase of at least $23.95 for that same $100,000 parcel of land from last year.
“Assessments” are assessed on a per-parcel basis, and Island County property parcel assessments include:
- Whidbey Conservation District $5.50 (brand new in 2010)
- Forest Protection $17.90
- Clean Water Utility $39.13 (brand new in 2010)
- School 201 Oak Harbor $297.50 (the M&O levy portion at $98 / $100,000 will DOUBLE starting in 2014 - it also increases each of the next four years)
- State School $231.41
Tags: clean water utility, Forest protection, Maintenance and Operations (M&O) levy, Property taxes, Whidbey conservation district
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Good luck getting your evaluation reduced in Island County. How can your home value go down but the property go up or stay the same. My neighborhood has had foreclosure and short sales. At least 6 homes are rented because the value has slipped so low that the owner can’t afford to cell so they rent, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the assessor.
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“How can your home value go down but the property (taxes) go up or stay the same”
One way, of course, is that both voter-approved local school district Capital Projects’ Bonds and voter-approved Maintenance Operations levies perennially collect specified DOLLAR amounts which go up each year.
Therefore, even if the overall value of property goes down significantly, – which it has in recent years past – those voter-approved bonds are still going to put more $$ into the school district’s Debt Service Fund and those voter-approved M&O levies are going to pour more $$ into the school district’s General Fund.
Click HERE, for example, to see how the OHSD M&O levy will increase each of its four years – from 2014-2017 – after it first literally DOUBLES the DOLLAR amount being collected in 2013.
There are nearly two-dozen supermajority requirements currently in the state constitution. School levies used to require a supermajority vote to pass. They should again be required to do so.
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Where are the Port Districts in this example? The Port is the only tax entity that actually focuses on economic development. They cannot do much without money.
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Fire protection? Sheriff?
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