Those who live in school districts that recently approved a bond or levy may see larger increases. Other upticks on their 2021 property tax bill are likely tied to different levies and bonds voters approved increasing funding for fire districts, or school operational or capital expenses. “Because of the state school levy, in almost all cases, there will be a tax increase,” he said. He said his calculations showed, on average, most people in Spokane County would experience at least a 3% increase due to the levies. Mike Volz, who is the deputy county treasurer and a Republican state representative, said it’s difficult to calculate how much Spokane County residents’ tax bills will go up in 2021, because it’s dependent on their assessed value and which taxing district they live in. Most districts in the area had a rate below $2.ĭunn said the change has helped districts that have significantly lower property values, but the requirements have also created some challenges for districts that want to provide additional services because they are limited in how much in taxes they can ask voters to approve. In 2020, the district’s maintenance and operation levy has dropped to $1.60 per $1,000 in value. He said districts with higher property values were able to spread out the cost, but in areas with lower property values, individual taxpayers had to take on a higher burden to provide needed services.īefore the Legislature approved a new funding plan, property owners in some districts in Spokane County – including Spokane Public Schools – were paying more than $4 per $1,000 in assessed value to cover basic maintenance and operations. The solution addressed the problem of large funding gaps between school districts that had low property values and those that had high property values. Dunn’s agency supports local school districts in its position below the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Michael Dunn, the superintendent of North Eastern Washington’s Education Service District, said the implementation of the state’s solution to education funding has run into some issues. The temporary change expires in 2022, and the state’s levy rate will rise from $2.70 per $1,000 in value to $3.60, but will switch to a budget-based system. Next year will be the last year the state school portion of taxes will be calculated using a fixed-rate system. “In order to be responsible and actually get things done, we had to agree to some things that we liked less, and that was one of them,” he said. Tying taxes to property values has provided a boost in revenue, but Sullivan acknowledged it was also a risk. While property values have grown recently, they stagnated in the years following the Great Recession. He said sometimes schools need to grow by more than 1% in a year. He said limiting property taxes to a 1% growth or tying them to property values both present challenges. When the bill passed, Democrats controlled the Washington state House and Republicans controlled the Senate. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, one of the sponsors of the bill to change education funding, said the initial proposal had included more diverse forms of funding including a capital gains tax, but architects of the bill ended up agreeing to a property tax compromise to make sure the education fix and the budget was completed before the end of that fiscal year. Around half of what is collected for education includes local bonds and levies voters approved for maintenance, operations and funding construction of buildings, with the remaining $154.3 million going to the state for basic education. In a fixed-rate system increased property values lead to higher tax collections.Ībout 55% of property taxes generated in Spokane County will go to education in 2020, or $361 million of $658 million. While most local governments are still limited to small increases in taxes, the state school property tax levy is now a fixed-rate system, which means increases and decreases are tied to property values – not a budget. That changed in 2018 when a court-mandated fix to fully fund public education went into effect. In past years governments and other public service providers including libraries and fire districts were only allowed by state law to increase property taxes by 1% of their total budget a year. The average Spokane County resident saw their assessed property value increase by at least 9% this year, an increase that will likely be reflected on next year’s tax bill. Local officials expect another increase next year, but have not yet calculated how much more the changes to tax policy will generate. This year the county will collect $154 million in K-12 state education property taxes, a $29.4 million increase from last year. Property tax bills across the state are spiking thanks in large part to a massive overhaul of education funding approved by lawmakers more than three years ago.