Home values in all parts of our County have trended back up this year after last year’s three percent drop. Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Mike Lonergan said, “Countywide, the average residential property has increased in value by 6.2 percent this year, going up from $521,300 to $553,500.”
Lonergan cautioned homeowners not to conclude that an increased value will automatically result in a property tax increase next year. Instead, these 2024 values are used to determine each property owner’s fair share of taxes to be collected in 2025. That’s because state law limits each taxing district to a one percent annual increase in their property tax revenue, unless it is further increased by a majority vote of the people.
“Your property tax in 2025 will be the new 2024 value multiplied by the combined tax rates of your school district, city, fire district and other local districts, plus the statewide school levy that everyone pays,” Lonergan explained. “So, a lot depends on public votes such as levy lid lifts and bond issues.”
The latest assessed values for residential and commercial properties throughout Pierce County are in the mail to taxpayers and posted on the Assessor-Treasurer’s website: www.piercecountywa/atr.
The change in home value varies in different communities, based on actual sales of similar properties. “The largest home value increases are around seven percent in Orting, Eatonville, and Lakewood, Tacoma, Puyallup and Sumner” said Lonergan. “The smallest increases were under one percent in Fircrest and three percent in Milton.” (See attachment for details.)
Commerical properties showed a moderate combined value increase of three percent over last year. Retail was fairly flat and office space generally lost value, while warehouses stayed strong and mobile home parks increased substantially.
The combined value of all properties in Pierce County continued to grow at a rate of nearly six percent in the past year. That price tag for all taxable properties (about 330,000 of them) jumped from $185 billion to over $196 billion.
This year, County appraisers visited nearly every house in Lakewood, University Place, Steilacoom and DuPont, while values in other areas were based on trending market sales of similar homes. Now, during the summer months, appraisers are inspecting all new construction in Pierce County and adding its value to the tax rolls.
Any property owner who believes the Assessor-Treasurer has overvalued their property may appeal to the Pierce County Board of Equalization at no cost. The appeal must be filed no later than August 26, 2024, providing evidence that comparable properties have sold recently at a lower amount. More information is available at www.piercecountywa.gov/atr.
Homeowners over age 61, or fully disabled at any age, may qualify for reduced property taxes if their gross household income is below $64,000 per year. A fillable application form and instructions are on the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s website.
The household income of $64,000 for retired citizens to qualify for reducing their property taxes has not gone up. Our incomes have not gone up either. But the cost of living has.
The $64,000 figure needs to be adjusted to be more in line with the daily cost of living. If the cost of living goes up 20% and incomes only go up 2%, guess who is losing out. This is what happened to us last year.