Your property tax amounts, due by April 30 and October 31, 2019, are now posted on this website and can be looked up either by street address or tax parcel number.
Your annual tax is determined by multiplying your property value (in thousands of dollars) by the combined rate of all your taxing districts. School funding, local and state, accounts for over half of your Property Tax. So, changes in the school formula can make quite a difference.
Last year saw tax increases for nearly every property owner, due to the Washington State Legislature’s addition of a second State School Levy, to meet the court-ordered state funding of K-12 education. This year, the second half of that equation takes effect—reduction of local school operating levies (now called Enrichment Levies) to no more than $1.50 per $1,000 of property value.
In 2018, these voted local levies in Pierce County’s 17 school districts ranged from $1.98 per thousand in the Peninsula School District up to $5.45 in the Carbonado District with most other districts in the $3 to $4 range. So, even though the value of most properties increased significantly in the past year, many taxpayers will see a reduction on their tax statement for 2019.
Voters in several school districts passed construction bond issues taking effect in 2019, which will reduce the net amount of savings—for example the Fife District will have a slight increase in the total school tax rate for that reason. Also, this year only, the Second State School Levy has been reduced by 30 cents per $1,000 value, resulting in some additional savings for taxpayers.
If you have a question, please contact our Customer Service team by phone, by live text on this website, or in person at the Pierce County Annex.
Mike Lonergan
Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer