Clark County Assessor Peter Van Nortwick and Clark County Treasurer Alishia Topper explain property tax changes to attendees of an information session at the Battle Ground Community Center Jan. 28.
Another round of changes to school funding through property taxes is likely to have an effect on tax bills this year, though more senior homeowners will have the option to exempt themselves from some of it due to other changes also effective in 2020.
Clark County residents had a chance to hear from county office heads during a property tax information session at the Battle Ground Community Center Jan. 28. During the event, Clark County Assessor Peter Van Nortwick and Clark County Treasurer Alishia Topper gave an overview of the changes, with increases to school funding rates and a higher threshold for a senior property tax exemption chief among differences from 2019 to 2020.
School funding changes
Van Nortwick gave an overview of the largest impact to property taxes over the past several years, a result of changes to state school funding brought on as a result of the McCleary state Supreme Court case, which in 2017 state lawmakers addressed with legislation.
Due to the increased state property tax enacted by the legislation, every taxing district in Clark County had a property tax increase payable in 2018, Van Nortwick said during a similar tax talk nearly two years ago. In 2019, more changes to both the level of state collections for schools as well as a new cap on local school district levies had the majority of taxing districts’ bills drop.
Now, due to even more changes made by the state Legislature last year, the cap on local school district levies increased and the one-year reprieve on some of the increased state school taxes disappeared.
“The result of that has been kind of a roller coaster with property taxes,” Van Nortwick said. “In 2018, we saw them jump up. In 2019, they went down. In 2020 they’re going back up.”
Some districts will see its residents paying more than others due to some of the specifics about past rates and recently approved rates on local levies. The Hockinson and Ridgefield school districts passed levy replacements at $1.50 per $1,000 last year — the rate under the original local levy cap seen on tax bills in 2019 — which keeps the rates lower than the new cap.
The largest increase due to school taxes in Clark County is Battle Ground Public Schools, which opted to go with the increased levy cap of $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. In 2017, voters approved a levy replacement that had a higher rate — estimated at about $3.66 per $1,000 at the time of its passage — allowing for collections at the level of the new cap.
In tax bill impacts, levy changes and the state funding increase mean all taxing districts will see some sort of increase, however, ranging from $139.60 to $539.60 for the year on a $400,000 home depending on which district the property is in.
Van Nortwick said that as of the tax talk it was unclear where property taxes would turn in 2021, noting that this year’s legislative session was still ongoing.
Senior exemption
The other big property tax-related change in 2020 was a reworking of how the senior exemption is applied. Whereas prior to the changes there was a cap of $40,000 annual income for exemption eligibility statewide, now the rate is tied to a county’s median income, which raised the limit in a handful of counties, including Clark, Van Nortwick explained.
Now the cap is at $50,348 annual income, Van Nortwick said. Information from the county provided at the event showed that exemptions were tiered, with lower tiers being exempt from a portion of regular levies based on property values, while the top tier (ranging from $42,603 to $50,348 annual income) allowed for exemptions from excess and special levies, as well as the second part of the state school levy which according to tax rate information from the county was close to $1 per $1,000 assessed value.
Van Nortwick said that the number of residents on the exemption program could double, from 7,500 currently to 15,000. Those who now qualify for the exemption won’t get it automatically, however, as seniors will have to opt in.
“Typically we have about 1,000 people every year that come in to apply for the senior exemption program. This year we’re expecting to have 5,000 people show up,” Van Nortwick remarked.
Changes to REET
In a change related to taxes on property outside of levies, Topper addressed changes in the state real estate excise tax (REET) which went into effect this year. As opposed to a flat 1.28 percent of the sale, now the REET was tiered, with property sales under $500,000 having a rate of 1.1 percent, sales greater than $500,000 but below $1.5 million maintaining the 1.28 percent, sales greater than $1.5 million to $3 million having a 2.75 percent rate and those above $3 million having a 3 percent rate.
The change in REET rates would not affect agriculture and timberland, Topper said, which will maintain the 1.28 percent rate.
