Try on proposed King County property tax changes with this tool
Ballots are sorted at King County Elections headquarters on Aug. 5, 2019, (Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut)
King County voters deciding how to vote on the proposed property tax increases on the Nov. 7 ballot can use an online tool to estimate the potential financial impact of that choice.
King County Assessor John Wilson offers his Taxpayer Transparency Tool for the sake of government transparency.
“Taxpayers have a right to know where their money is going, and what each proposed property tax levy will cost them,” he said in a news release Monday when the 2023 election tool was released. “Property taxes keep going up. We need to make sure the public understands why.”
The tool is designed to help property owners in Kirkland, Maple Valley, Seattle, Enumclaw, Fife and Kent, plus those who live within the boundaries of the Skykomish School District; the King County FIre Protection District 27 in Fall City; Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue; the Valley Regional Fire Authority covering Auburn, Algona and Pacific; and the Si View Metropolitan Park District in North Bend.
King County has offered the Tax Transparency Tool since 2018. It was developed by a software company called Spatialest, which focuses on property assessment data analysis.
The tax increase estimates offered by the tool are likely not accurate for the life of any levy, as those numbers usually change during the life of the tax.