Pierce County: Your Property Tax Bills Will Be Higher This Year

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — With property tax bills set to roll out in mid-February, the Pierce County Assessor's Office is reminding homeowners that this year's statements could pack a bit of a sticker shock.

"There's no sugar-coating it, property tax bills will be bigger this year," Assessor-Treasurer Mike Lonergan said.

The assessor's office said the most notable spikes will be in Lakewood, University Place, Parkland, Spanaway and Fircrest, where most will see double-digit increases — with some as high as 20 percent. Property taxes in Tacoma and Gig Harbor will go up an average of 14 percent. In the cities of Edgewood, Steilacoom and DuPont, taxes this year were estimated to jump between 4 and 9 percent on average.

Puyallup city officials said effective tax rates in the city would actually be lower in 2020, due in part to a paid-off library levy, and city leaders choosing not to collect the full amount of property taxes that is permitted by law.

Lonergan said the cause of the rate increases in Pierce County is two-pronged: legislative actions taken last year to comply with school funding requirements from the McCleary case, and voter-approved levy measures in several districts.

"The legislature's previous limit of $1.50 per thousand dollars of property value on local school enrichment levies was increased to $2.50, and a 30-cent reduction in the state school levy has expired," Lonergan said. "So that's a $1.30 per thousand increase to start with."

According to the assessor's office, voters in the Bethel, Peninsula and Yelm school districts passed capital bonds taking effect this year, and six Pierce County fire districts have new levies or levy lid lifts that begin this year.

"While our assesses values continue to rise, that's not what drives these big increases," Lonergan said. "Over 58 percent of the taxes I collect go to K-12 school funding, so the voted changes there have made a huge difference."

Property tax statements are slated to hit mailboxes by mid-February. Homeowners who pay taxes out of mortgage accounts can view their bill online, starting Feb. 1. First-half payments are due April 30, with the full bill due in November.

Low-income seniors and those with disabilities can apply for an exemption if their household income is below $45,708.