By Kirk Boxleitner

It might seem like a simple question. What's been happening with the money Jefferson County has collected from increased property taxes since 2019?

But this question potentially has two answers, since it could pertain to county-specific budget information regarding property taxes, or levies of the county’s tax districts. The latter falls under the purview of Jefferson County Assessor Jeff Chapman, who took the time to speak to The Leader regarding property taxes and values over the past four years.

“Generally, large tax increases follow the years that values increase,” Chapman said. “The reason has to do with voter-approved increases, usually fire and school. They tend to be able to get tax increases by voting above statutory limitations, since taxpayers are generally very supportive of fire districts and schools, with Quilcene being the exception this year.”

Chapman noted that, in 2023, when Jefferson County had a large property valuation increase, it nonetheless experienced a “very low” property tax increase, since there were no real pending voted measures.

“I did say, last year, that this would be followed by years with voted levies and lid lifts,” Chapman said. “Sure enough, this year, taxes increased faster than values. However, the regular districts are limited to one percent plus new construction, without voted lid lifts, and lid lifts for administrative agencies have difficulty gaining voter support.”

Thus, Chapman pointed out that, while county property taxes have been increasing, the county’s levies have been held to less than the rate of inflation.

“We still have to pay salaries and benefits, which are going up faster than the two-to-three-percent limitation,” Chapman said. “That’s why there was a bill, this year, to try to allow regular levies to get a little closer to COLA increases. Counties still have to pay the bills, and the other way to do this is with increases in fees and other taxes, which end up costing the taxpayers more, because of the added overhead.”