SEATTLE — Homeowners across King County will shell out more money in property taxes this year.
According to King County’s Tax Assessor’s office, aggregate King County property values increased by 21.8% in 2022, but since the county operates under a “budget-based” property tax revenue system, aggregate property taxes in King County for 2023 rose by 6.4%.
Winona Gram said property taxes in the county have been creeping up for years.
“In 2018 is when it really jumped a lot. And it's been continuously jumping since then,” Gram said.
Gram lived in Sammamish for 30 years and her home was paid off, but she said her taxes nearly doubled the last six years.
“I couldn't afford to live there on a teacher's salary. It was just too much, and so I had no choice but to move,” Gram said.
Gram moved from her home in Sammamish to South King County.
“It was sad we lived in the community for over 30 years and it's a wonderful community and having to go somewhere completely new, not familiar with it, was a big change,” Gram said.
That could be the reality for even more people in King County.
“We're getting priced out of where we live, where we've lived for a very long time and it's not just me, it's a lot of other people,” said Gram.
It's people like Ron Farrell, who’s owned his King County home for nearly two decades.
“We've seen the increase in the taxes rise about four times the value of what it was when we moved in,” Farrell said.
Farrell isn't working for health reasons and, with a son in college, is looking at other states after living here nearly all his life.
“Aside from my service time when I was in the Army. I've lived in Washington state for over 50 years. So I obviously love Washington. My family was here, I created a family here, my friends are here. But in this state, we're taxing so much that it doesn't make sense,” Farrel said.
Farrell said some people are appealing the assessed value of their home with the county.
"They're trying to say 'Here's all my information, here's where you assess my house, here's why in today's market it's not that much'," he said. "That's a lot of red tape to go through."
The tax assessor’s office notes voter-approved levies are largely the reason for an increase.
The county showed local schools and state schools will get a large chunk of this year’s property taxes.
“We're doing the same thing over and over, we're electing the same people. We're saying yes to every tax, and then everyone gets upset when they see taxes go up. I get upset, too. Why are we paying taxes with no accountability?” Farrell said.
Gram is also worried about the school’s futures in the long run.
“People are gonna get more and more frustrated with having to pay the taxes, and then that's going to impact the schools, which aren't funded as well as they should be by the state anyway,” he said.