By Bruce Walker
Pacific County Assessor
Engrossed substitute senate bill 5160 passed by the state Legislature this last session changed and amended a couple of the requirements for property owners receiving or applying for a senior/disabled property tax exemption. The residency requirement has been changed to “principal place of residence occupied for more than nine months each calendar year by a person claiming an exemption under RCW 84.36.381.” Previously, the residency requirement had been “for more than six months.” Persons who do not live in their principal residence in Pacific County for more than nine months will no longer qualify for the exemption. This will affect some “Snowbirds.”
If you have any questions about this change, please contact this office at one of the numbers below or 360-875-9300, ext. 2207, and ask to speak to Sheryl, the administrator of the program.
Every three years we audit the senior/disabled exemption program. If you are currently on the program you will be receiving a letter in February asking you to document your income and residency. Currently the upper income level is $40,000 annually. Pensions, Social Security, annuities and all types of income are included in this.
“You raised my taxes” is a common refrain we hear in the Assessor’s Office, especially when the new valuation notices are sent out in June. In Washington, the assessors’ offices across the state only set the assessed values used for property taxes, and calculate and limit the regular taxes levied (charged) by the various taxing districts and excess levies approved directly by the voters. The Assessor’s Office has nothing to do with amounts which are levied.
The regular taxing districts are holding public budget hearings this time of year to set their budgets and approve the amounts to be levied. No matter what the assessed value of the district is, the commissioners of the regular taxing districts are limited to levying no more than 1% plus any new construction amounts over the previous year.
If you have any questions about this article, the Senior Exemption program or any other property tax issue, or see a correction needed on our Taxsifter or Mapsifter websites, please contact us at 360-875- 9301. Our office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mon-Fri at the courthouse in South Bend and 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday only at the South County Annex in Long Beach.
