11/24/2008 11:37:00 PM County property owners will see tax bills increase in 2009; Commissioners declare financial emergency
By Melanie Lockhart Leader Staff Writer
On the heels of cutting six employees last week, county commissioners on Monday voted to use all of the county's "banked" tax capacity and discussed the possibility of additional spending cuts to balance the 2009 budget.
The Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 to declare a "financial emergency" to obtain the legal right to dip into the general fund banked capacity. The move is billed as an effort to minimize staff, program and service cuts in years to come.
The average homeowner's tax bill in 2009 would go up by about $25 as a result of using the banked capacity, estimated County Assessor Jack Westerman III.
Following the procedure of a county ordinance, the commissioners declared a "financial emergency" in order to raise tax revenues by using tax revenue increases banked in previous years.
Under Washington law, local governments cannot increase their property tax revenues by more than 1 percent a year without a vote of the people. Whenever a government increases property tax revenues by less than 1 percent, it can bank the remainder - creating banked capacity - and implement it without a vote of the people at a later date.
Jefferson County had accumulated $473,171.68 in general fund banked capacity since it was last used in 1998. Commissioners decided to use all of that banked capacity, plus raise the general fund levy by 1 percent ($61,409.39).
The 2008 general fund levy was $6,140,939.20. With banked capacity and the 1 percent increase, the 2009 levy will be $6,675,520.27.
Commissioner David Sullivan, District 2, opposed the decision, while Phil Johnson, District 1, and John Austin, District 3, approved.
"I have problems with the term 'emergency,'" Sullivan said prior to his "no" vote. "'Emergency' is undefined," he added. "I always thought it was a poor ordinance, actually," he said of the county's ordinance adopted in 2004.
Johnson said he agrees "emergency" is poorly defined, but looking at the national news regarding the economy's downturn, it's obvious there is an emergency.
The board voted 3-0 to increase the county road levy and conservation futures levy by 1 percent each, using no banked capacity. The road levy increases by $34,792.43 in 2009, and the conservation futures tax levy gains $1,916.61. Assessor Westerman said there is $225,000 of combined banked capacity available for the two levies.
Individual tax bills might not increase in proportion to the stated percentages because of changes in the tax base and the four-year cycle of property valuation updates. Westerman said the average $275,000 home in Jefferson County and Port Townsend will see a $25.02 increase in 2009.
(Look for a longer story in the Nov. 26 issue of The Leader. Staff writer Barney Burke contributed to this story.)
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