Property tax bills coming: Taxes will go down for some, up for others. Overall, taxes will Drop in King County by An Average of 1%

Property taxes will go down in roughly half of the cities and unincorporated areas in King County, and go up slightly in the other half. On average, property taxes in King County will drop by 1% compared to last year.

King County Treasury will begin sending out the annual property tax bills February 14. King County collects property taxes on behalf of the state, the county, cities, and taxing districts (such as school and fire districts), and distributes the revenue to these local governments.

About 55 percent of property tax revenues collected in King County in 2019 pays for schools. Property taxes also fund voter-approved measures for veterans and seniors, fire protection, and parks. King County receives about 18 percent of your property tax payment for roads, police, criminal justice, public health, elections, and parks, among other services.

The change in tax bills this year is primarily due to a reduction in the property taxes collected for school districts as part of the state legislature’s "levy swap" plan to fund K-12 education. Under that plan, a new statewide property tax was added last year to increase funding for schools, while local levies remained in place, causing a sharp spike in property taxes. This year, under that plan, local levies will decrease, and will then reset in the future. What this means for taxpayers in general in 2019 is some will see a slight decrease in taxes, while others will see a slight increase.

"Property tax policy remains in a state of flux," said King County Assessor John Wilson. "It's important to remember changes in the law, or approval of special levies, have much more impact on changes to your tax bill than does the changing value of your property."

Property taxes vary depending upon location, the assessed value of the property, and the number of jurisdictions levying taxes (such as state, city, county, school district, port, fire district, etc).

Aggregate property tax collections in King County for the 2019 tax year will be $5.6 billion, a decrease of about 1% from the 2018 collection of $5.7 billion. Aggregate property value in King County increased by more than 13 percent from the previous year, going from $534.7 billion to $606.6 billion.

A number of levies and other property tax measures were approved by voters in 2018 for collection in 2019. They include:

• County-wide -- Renewal of AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System).
• Bothell -- temporary lid lift for public safety.
• Sixteen of the 20 school districts in King County passed Enhancement levies.
• Eight school districts passed Capital levies.
• Three school districts passed Transportation levies.
• Two school districts passed capital Bond measures.
• Fire District 39 approved a permanent levy lid lift.
• Fire District 45 and Fire District 22 passed capital bond measures.
• Seattle passed a renewal of their Families and Education levy

Low-income seniors, veterans and disabled homeowners may qualify for a property-tax exemption offered by King County. Information on how to apply for an exemption, along with other property-assessment-related information, can be found at kingcounty.gov/assessor.

Property owners can find tax levy rates and more property related information by visiting the eReal Property Search on the King County Assessor’s website or by calling 206-296-7300.

Click here to see Property Tax Change by City