Assessor explains property value changes

If not heartwarming, it was at least a homecoming when the potentially painful topic of property taxes was discussed during the Oct. 22 La Conner Town Council meeting at Maple Hall.

First-term Skagit County Assessor Danny Hagen, a former Shelter Bay resident who in a past life was a La Conner High School athlete and later a Braves basketball coach, provided an update on local property value changes at the outset of the 90-minute public session last week.

Hagen, who played hoops for Cal Lutheran University, deftly put a positive spin on property taxes by citing their framework for transparency, local accountability and efficiency.

Hagen made the point on transparency by rhetorically asking those attending if they knew how much they paid last year in sales tax or how much their neighbors paid in income tax. No one raised their hand.

Conversely, said Hagen, "property taxes are much more transparent."

He said that property tax revenue supports foundational institutions such as the La Conner School District, the La Conner Library District, Medic One Services and the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery District, among others.

Such direct allocations are more efficient, he noted, than tax revenue streams that flow back and forth between here and the state and national capitals.

"It costs money to send tax revenue to Olympia and Washington, D.C., and then back," Hagen said. "And that money comes back in grants that have strings attached."

Hagen touted Skagit County's Senior Citizen and Disabled Persons Exemption programs, which he said helps bring tax equity to those populations, whose members are often on reduced or fixed incomes.

He explained that retirees pay the same sales tax rates and without the exemptions would also foot property tax bills as if they were still in their peak earning years.

"We're working really hard to get the word out on this," Hagen said. "We're trying to help make our tax system fairer."

On that score, Planning Director Michael Davolio suggested that Hagen present the exemption option at the La Conner Senior Center; the assessor agreed that is a good idea.

Rising property values across Skagit County reflect the area's desirability and quality of life, Hagen indicated, noting that assessments are market-adjusted and influenced by prices from home sales.

"Our goal," Hagen said, "is to assess as fairly and equitably as possible."

Hagen, elected in 2022 as an independent, had served eight years on the county assessor's staff. Over the past decade, he said, assessments have relied more heavily on aerial and oblique imagery as opposed to on-site inspections, protecting the privacy of property owners and the personal safety of assessors.

"The days of assessors hopping fences is over," he chuckled. "We use as much technology as possible. Our goal is (obtaining) accurate property data."

Hagen told council that while La Conner area residential properties have risen on average 11%, some neighborhoods have realized smaller or no changes. He said there has been a 12% increase within town limits and 14% for waterfront properties. Swinomish fee simple residential parcels have experienced a 15% increase, he said.

Hagen said that most commercial values here have remained the same, with a modest increase for hotels and motels.

He stressed that county property owners are welcome to appeal property valuations and tax bills with which they disagree.

"Our goal," Hagen said, "is to assess equitably to the best of our ability. It's not to over-assess."