Property Values And Taxes

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Story Published: Sep 30, 2008 at 5:40 PM PST

By Audrey Asistio

SELAH -- While the rest of the country struggles with their housing markets, this isn't the case for some homes in Selah.
They have learned their homes are worth more.

Kaye Briscoe tells Action News, "I know that a lot of people are working second jobs, but I thought I'd get to the point in my life where I wouldn't have to do that."

Kaye and her husband just got their property assessment through the mail. It shows the price of their home and land has gone up $47,000 from last year. This is the first time their property has gone up by a third in over 35 years. To them, higher property value means one thing- higher taxes. They will have to pay an extra $500 in property taxes this year.

"Getting close to retirement, our money stays the same, but yet all these increases we're seeing, we're barely able to make ends meet sometimes," Kaye says.

Yakima County Assessor Dave Cook says property values are determined by the rate of homes that sell in the area.

Dave explains, "People think that we've increased their assessed value and it's going to generate more tax. That's absolutely not true."

Dave adds that taxes are set by the taxing districts and he's just the messenger. He understands Kaye's concerns and thinks there's a larger group to blame for the real estate problem.

"I think the legislature has to do something. They've created this mess and they need to do something to fix it," says Dave.

It is a mess that is out of Dave's hands and a problem Kaye and her husband will have to deal with.
Dave adds that if there is ever a problem with your property value assessment, he's willing to look into it and fix any problems.

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