The income limits for persons to qualify for the Senior Citizen/Disabled property tax have been raised for the 2024 tax year. The new income levels (2023 income for 2024 taxes) are as follows; below $31,000, $31,001 to $37,000 and $37,001 to $43,000. These levels correspond to different amounts of tax reduction.

Under state law RCW 84.56.381, a person is eligible for a property tax reduction if they:

(1) Are 61 years old as of Dec. 31 of the previous year, or disabled;

(2) The property is their primary residence and they resided on the property for more than 6 months the previous year;

(3) They meet income requirements set forth in RCW 84.36.383. The maximum income limits to qualify for the program are linked to the median income levels in each county. In Pacific County the maximum limit is $43,000.

Under Washington’s budget-based property tax system, every year each taxing district must vote for the amount the district wants to levy the following year. The assessor’s office has nothing to do with these amounts but does calculate the rates for each district. Every local taxing district; county, cities, fire, port etc. voted at their public meetings to levy the maximum amounts allowed under the law.

Recently it was announced that Hospital District No. 2 of Pacific County will have a bond issue on the February ballot. Please don’t call the assessor’s office with questions about how much this will cost individual taxpayers or what the levy rate will be. The bonding companies give us the amount to be collected (principal plus interest plus the bonding company’s fees) every year and then we divide that amount by the total assessed value of the district to calculate the rate. We also don’t finalize the total assessed value of each district until December of every year, and since that total assessed value changes every year, the rates also change every year for the life of the bond.

If you have any questions about the Senior Exemption program or other property tax issues, or see a correction needed on our Taxsifter or Mapsifter websites please contact us at 875- 9301, 642-9301, 484-7301 or 267-8301. Our office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday at the Courthouse in South Bend. Our office at the South County Annex at 7013 Sandridge Rd. in Long Beach is by appointment only until further notice.