King County launches new website: Taxpayer Transparency Tool shows exactly where property tax dollars go

Property taxes are one of those ever-changing things that can leave people very confused. New schools bonds, levies, initiatives. Expiring levies and bonds. New yearly assessments. It can be head spinning until the new bill comes. Then it can be shocking.

On July 18, 2018 the King County Assessor’s Office announced a new website available for property owners to help take the confusion out of what individual property taxes fund – even breaking down the exact amount of your property tax bill that fund each taxing district, school bonds, school levies, etc.

It will even tell you how proposed ballot initiatives may impact your tax bill, and does so very clearly.

According to the Assessor’s Office, “It provides each King County resident an individualized accounting of where their property tax dollars go, and the estimated cost of any proposed property tax levy to be voted on.”

For instance, it shows me that a Regular Property Tax Levy for Automated Fingerprint Identification System Services will expired, saving me $28/year and that its replacement levy on the August 2018 ballot will cost me $26/year if passed.

It shows me that approximately 60% of my property taxes go to fund education and breaks down exactly which school pot it gets dropped into – levy, bond, state, McCleary, etc.-  and then I can see that another 20% goes to the City of Snoqualmie.

The new tool is called the Tax Transparency Tool and it is user-friendly. You can check it out HERE.

EXAMPLE SNOQUALMIE PROPERTY TAX BILL BREAKDOWN ON TAX TRANSPARENCY TOOL

 

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