The Pacific County real estate boom has continued in 2006. Most of the sales have been in the south county but the entire county has been experiencing sales higher than the assessed value.

The Pacific County Assessor’s Office recorded 367 qualified sales for the six months ending June 30, with only 25 of those under the property’s assessed valuation. The average selling price was about 172 percent of the assessed value.

The above figures are for qualified sales only, so the figures don’t include sales between family members, selling only a percentage of ownership and similar transactions.

Pacific County is on a four-year revaluation cycle, which means that an increase in assessed values in some areas won’t reflect these sales for a year or two. This year’s revaluation cycle includes lands west of the highway on the Long Beach Peninsula from Joe Johns south, Ilwaco, Naselle, Chinook and the Nemah and Bay Center areas.

The county’s total assessed valuations was $1.69 billion as of Jan. 1, 2006. It should go up again this year, but in a way it’s misleading because for the past 8 to 10 years the assessed value per acre of timber land has gone down about $10 per acre. The state Department of Natural Resources sets those amounts and we have many acres in timber. Because of this, the first year I took office (2003) we were the only county in the state whose total assessed value decreased from the previous year.

Weyco disputing

Raymond mill valuation

There are several situations which may affect property tax amounts for 2007. My biggest concern at this time is the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) case scheduled for Oct. 3 involving the Weyerhaeuser mill in Raymond.

Since most rural counties have only one large industry we typically don’t have an industrial appraiser and we request an appraisal advisory from the State Depaertment of Revenue (DOR). Their (DOR’s) appraisal was for approximately $35 million. When Weyerhaeuser received their reval notice they countered that the value was approximately $29 million.

Per state law, if a contested amount is greater than one-half of 1 percent of the total assessed value of a county, then that amount cannot be added to the rolls so for the 2006 tax year we subtracted the $6 million in dispute.

On Aug. 29, the last day to exchange information between the parties, I received a new appraisal which stated that Weyerhaeuser’s estimate of value was $15 million or almost half of the amount they petitioned the state board for.

If the Weyerhaeuser amount is upheld, it will require the tax districts pay back what was over collected, which is approximately $248,500. Those districts affected are the county current expense, Raymond School district, city of Raymond, Hospital Dist. 2, Port of Willapa Harbor and the EMS. Not only do the districts have to pay back money if the BTA decides in Weyerhaeuser’s favor, but the tax burden will shift to the rest of us. The county had about $14 million in assessed value on the mill in 1988 and $20 million in 1998 so it came as a big surprise to me when their appraisal came in not only as half of their original value but close to equaling the 1988 value.

Initiative 747 has been overturned

Another item which pertains to property tax is I-747; the law which limited the increase in a taxing district’s budget to a 1% increase a year was recently overturned in appellate court.

It is in the State Supreme Court and hopefully a decision will be made quickly. Every county assessor hopes that this will be sooner than later. If the appellate court’s decision is upheld, we will be under the old law which allowed a 6% yearly increase in a taxing district’s budget.

Washington’s property tax system is budget based. This means that a taxing district submits a final budget to the assessor’s office. We then determine the lawful amount the district is entitled to, divide it by the total assessed value of the district and set the levy rate. The budget is the amount that is limited by the 1 percent, not an individual’s tax amount.

Combining the timber laws into one

In other news the Washington State Association of County Assessors has a priority bill to send to the Legislature in January. This bill would combine the two timber laws into one.

Right now there are two classifications for timber, one for parcels over 20 acres (Designated Forest Land) and one for parcels between five and 20 acres (Open Space Timber). They are basically the same.

I’m the chair of the timber committee and this bill is near and dear to me. A situation which occurs fairly regularly in Pacific County is this; a person owns 23 acres which is in DFL, and wants to give or sell to one of their children 6 acres (one acre for a housesite and the remaining 5 acres can stay in a timber program). Under present laws, both people must reapply to be accepted into the Open Space Timber program since both parcels are now under 20 acres. The reapplication costs $150 dollars each and a new timber management program must be presented. Since both parcels involve the same trees it doesn’t make much sense to have to go through this process.

There are over 6 million acres in DFL and around 125,000 acres in Open Space Timber, both of which have the same requirements. It makes sense to combine the two into one program. As one assessor put it “this is administrivia”; filling out forms and going through a process, which doesn’t accomplish anything other than filling out more forms and going through a process.

Sen. Mark Doumit was the sponsor of the timber combination bill last year and both Representatives Takko and Blake were in favor of it but it never made it out of committee. Hopefully, this year it will pass.

Bruce Walker is the elected assessor of Pacific County. Questions? Call 642-9301 or 360-875-9301, brucew@co.pacific.wa.us.