TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

Washington Tax: Did King County undertax your home?

by Michelle Esteban, 02 June 2010, SEATTLE -- A former King County tax assessor says property taxes too low - to the tune of $30 million.

And Harley Hoppe thinks homeowners should be re-billed.

He believes the King County Assessor's Office undervalued thousands of homes and lost out on millions of property tax dollars.

"They didn't follow the money; they didn't follow the values," he said.

Hoppe's allegations grabbed the attention of homeowners, who are worried they'd owe back taxes if their homes were undervalued.

"I wouldn't feel good about it," said Gloria Melchior. "We're already pretty heavily taxed right now."

But King County Assessor Lloyd Hara says a quick analysis shows most properties were properly assessed.

"We're pretty much on the mark," Hara said.

Hara says out of 660,000 properties, about 38,000 saw no change in their property assessment, but he says his preliminary findings show it's for good reason.

"We found a good portion of those were tax-exempt parcels," Hara said. "Once they become that, values are frozen."

Hara admits there may be some homes that need to be re-assessed, but is confident it won't be many.

He says very few homeowners, if any, should expect an adjusted in next year's property tax rate. As for those alleged millions in uncollected property taxes?

"There isn't that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow as some have suggested," Hara said, adding his office will run another comprehensive analysis this weekend to be certain.

Hoppe also urged the assessor to investigate business property taxes, specifically whether J.P Morgan Chase got art work when it took over Washington Mutual bank and if it owes any taxes on that art. The assessor is launching a "detailed audit" of the bank's assets.