MUST KNOW BEFORE APPEALING PROPERTY TAXES IN WASHINGTON STATE

Investment property owners should only file a “FORMAL APPEAL” with the County’s Board of Equalization (“BOE”) on their Assessed Value (“AV”) and receive a FREE appraisal from the Assessor. Don’t spend money on Appeals, unless you have “clear, cogent and convincing evidence” of material errors in the appraisal that are not subjective. Expect the sales metrics used to compute your Official Value card for taxes payable the following year, and your taxes due to be determined by March 1st.

In your review of the appraisal, look for “Incorrect Characteristics”, which are data points entered into the Assessor’s Mass Appraisal computer model. The most common errors are: Land Area, Wetland area, Steep Slope area and other environmental impacts that can be defined as “Manifest Errors”. Overpayments can be refunded as far as 3-years back. Correcting incorrect Land Area requires a Record of Survey to be filed with the county Auditor, and the cost of a survey may exceed your potential saving, so you must do a cost-benefit analysis. If you do find a “Manifest Error”, file a “Paid Under Protest” notice with your next tax payment, and a Property Tax Refund Application with the county Treasurer.

The BOE will not bifurcating Land and Improvement Values, without identifying a Manifest Error. A further Appeal is available at the State’s Board of Tax Appeals (“BTA”), and they may consider bifurcation, with ample evidence to support your claim. County Appraisers look most closely at Sales Price per Unit and per SF to determine Total AV. The BOE may give consideration to historic performance, if you submit 2-years of prior YE Operating Statements and Rent Rolls to contradict the Appraiser’s “Presumption of Correctness”.

If you contest Net Rentable Area, know that no doctrine requires Appraisers to use BOMA Standards for measuring Net Rentable Square Feet. You’ll need an As-Built survey, or building plans to be successful.

It takes 12-18 months for a BOE Hearing date to be scheduled, and another 18-24 months to get a date on the Docket at the BTA. If you lose at the BTA, they are not limited to the Assessor’s AV and have the authority to increase AV’s on years being Appealed. All of this aggravation should be avoided if you plan to sell the property in 3-5 years, and just let me thank you personally for providing much need housing that supports the backbone of our state and community.

Please contact me if you have any questions via email or phone.