EVERETT – New assessment notices will be mailed to residential property owners this week
and to commercially zoned property owners the week of June 20th. The new assessed values
should reflect the market value of each property as of Jan. 1st 2011 and will be used to
determine each property owner’s share of property taxes due in 2012.

Appraisers will spend the next few months adding new construction to the assessment rolls, so
some property owners will receive a new notice of assessed value in the fall for new
construction added this year. The assessment date for new construction is as of July 31st each
year for property taxes to be collected the following year.

The answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) such as:
How can my assessed value decrease and my taxes increase? As well as answers to
other frequently asked questions during a declining real estate market are available at:
http://assessor.snoco.org/forms/DecliningMarketFAQ.pdf

The FAQ insert that was included with this year’s assessment notices is available at:
http://assessor.snoco.org/forms/faq.pdf

County Assessor Cindy Portmann recommends that property owners having questions or
concerns about their new assessed values call her office to talk to an appraiser before filing an
appeal with the Board of Equalization, as many concerns or issues can be resolved without
filing an appeal.

Residential Appraisal may be contacted at: 425-388-6555
Commercial Appraisal may be contacted at: 425-388-3390
Petitions or appeals to the Board of Equalization must be filed with the Board within 60 days of
when the notice was mailed or July 1st, whichever is later. The appeal process does not require
that you hire an attorney, but you will need to present evidence that the Assessor’s value is
incorrect. Appeal forms and instructions are available on the Board of Equalization's website at:
http://boe.snoco.org or by contacting the Clerk of the Board at 425-388-3407.

The changes in values are not the same for all properties. Individual property values may have
decreased more or less or in some cases increased. The small percentage of properties that

increased in value was primarily due to changes in property characteristics.