Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
In light of what the Democrat Legislature and Governor Ferguson did this session, passing the biggest tax increase in our history, I was shocked when I opened my “Notice of Value” tax year 2025 for 2026 today.
The land value did not change – $204,250. We have a “medium size lot.” BUT our home value went from $480,865 to $520,675. That is a $39,810 increase. We did NOTHING to deserve this increase, no upgrades, only minor repairs. So for the future, unless we can change something by initiative or referendum we face increases worse than this.
Our home is 1700 sq ft ranch style. We moved to our home in 2003. Back then the assessment was under $200,000. Now my home is assessed at over half a million dollars? My wife and I are pensioners. State, federal (Army RC), SS. We make too much to apply for a senior and disabled person’s discount. One of our sons lives in Stevens County, E. WA. Cost of living is more reasonable. The other option is ID.
Bob Zak
Vancouver, Hazel Dell, Lakeshore
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We got ours yesterday as well, giving us a $59,000 increase. That’s 9.56% rise in value, that means all of our taxes are going up significantly, again. And of course there is the obligatory list of reasons why you should not bother to appeal.
So much for the happy-talk about “affordable housing”.
What galled me the most was the full page “It ain’t my fault, so don’t blame me” letter from the Assessor. Yes, it is his fault and I do blame him. No houses have sold around here of late so its not like he is “marking to market”.
Bob, that’s nothing! Ours just went up 16.33%, a $130,527.00 “assessment value” increase. And, NO explanation or defense/excuse from the ASS-essor as to why, especially since nothing has been done to our house OR property to increase the “value”. The ASS-essor does this so we get screwed paying the increased BLOATED “budgets” of all the special assessment entities in the County… which NOBODY EVER QUESTIONS as to the VALIDITY of these “budgets”. Oh, wait! The ASS-essor department is “short-staffed” and terribly over-worked, so they rely on Redfin and Zillow for our “valuations”; two notoriously deceitful “real estate” websites solely designed to make homeowners think that their home/property is worth FAR more than it actually is. As Karma, Zillow LOST 10s of millions of dollars 2 years ago because they believed their own bs about the “values” of their investment properties.
Yeah, read his bs letter too; what a spit in our faces..
Ours went up $80,000!!! Yes it is the Assessor’s fault!! Apartments going up all over and you wonder how can a family raise a family in an apartment??🤷♀️ my bet is all these people making decisions for others live in a big beautiful house!!
My Missus has run her own small accounting business out of her office in our home for the last 27 years that we have lived in this house. She has immaculate records for everything we ever did to this house that would adjust the basis for the home’s value.
She spent the better part of yesterday morning wading through our personal records and the 15 page application online, to enter an appeal to the proposed value of our home. She is very good at Excel, so she spread sheeted data from the County’s website, and found a number of like properties nearby of similar size.
In short, what the County is proposing is flatly absurd. There is no way to justify a nearly 9.56% increase in our home’s value, or anyone else’s. Home sales are down across the board because nobody can afford to buy a home at its current value, much less the incredibly inflated values the Assessor is handing out.
We shall see what happens, but it can take as long as six months to get a decision. We just hope we’re not the only ones calling BS on these unreasonable assessments.
No, you aren’t the only ones. The problem is two-fold: 1) most people don’t know how to protest this bs, and worse, don’t have the time or know the resources to do a successful protest with the State Board of Equalization, and, 2) If you DO file a protest and win and get a “reduction”, you end up on the ASS-essor’s S-List and they jack up your “assessment” higher the next time your “valuation” comes out.
Here is a fix. Keep appraisals low by limiting the amount they can increase from point of sale, but you can only sell your house for the average of the tax assessed value of the ten years prior to sale.