City of Puyallup announcement.
In short, only a small percentage of your total property tax bill goes to the City. In fact, the City only gets about 11 percent of the property tax that is collected from residents. Here is a pie chart breakdown of how your property taxes are divided up.
As you can see, the City only gets one slice of the pie. Most of your property tax bill goes toward funding public schools, fire services, and other important public services. So, how much do you contribute to the City? The City’s 2023 levy rate is $0.98 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Your home’s assessed value is determined by the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s Office, which uses a variety of factors when determining this amount. You can learn more about their procedures by visiting their website here.
Let’s say your home has an assessed value of $450,000. Using the levy rate, that means you pay approximately $442 in property taxes to the City that year.
So, now you’re probably wondering…if the City only gets 11 percent in property taxes, where does the City get the rest of its funding? That is a great question! The City receives 50 percent of its general fund revenues from sales tax. The City also gets revenues from utilities, permits, licensing, and other sources. To learn more about how the City is funded, and how it uses those funds for operations, we encourage you to register for Puyallup 101.
Puyallup 101 is a free, eight-week civics course where you can learn about how the City operates, its organizational structure, and other fun, interesting topics. All classes are held from 6 to 7:30 pm on Thursdays, for eight weeks. Our spring registration begins on March 1, with the first class on April 6th. For registration and more information about Puyallup 101, please visit our website page. You can also email Erica Unruh at eunruh@puyallupwa.gov for questions and details.
This seems very succinct and unbiased – kind of refreshing!
If I was a Puyallup resident, I’d probably register for their course.