Christopher S. Mulvaney,

Attorney and Counselor-at-Law

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THIS WEBSITE INCLUDES GENERAL INFORMATION & THE OPINIONS OF CHRISTOPHER S. MULVANEY. IT IS INTENDED TO STIMULATE A BASIS FOR QUESTIONS RELATED TO YOUR PARTICULAR FACTUAL CIRCUMSTANCES — BEFORE YOU ACT.  THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU WANT LEGAL ADVICE, PLEASE MAKE A ZOOM APPOINTMENT TO SPEAK WITH ME.

CONTACT CHRISTOPHER S. MULVANEY FORM

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The use of email or this form for communication with MULVANEY LAW OFFICE, PLLC does not establish an Attorney-Client Relationship. If you don’t think I have responded, please check your spam folder. Time-sensitive information should not be sent through this Form or through email. Sensitive information can be uploaded to an encrypted Dropbox folder in your client file. Google Review Link Yelp Review Link

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Gonzaga University School of Law – Spokane, Washington – Class of 2002 – Cum Laude The Latin phrase “Deo patriae, scientiis, artibus” translates to “For God and country through sciences and arts”.  The initials A.M.D.G. on the seal of Gonzaga Law School stand for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, which is Latin for “For the Greater Glory of God” the Motto of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits): a Catholic religious order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

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“For 500 years the West patented six killer applications that set it apart. The first to download them was Japan. Over the last century, one Asian country after another has downloaded these killer apps- competition, modern science, the rule of law and private property rights, modern medicine, the consumer society and the work ethic. Those six things are the secret sauce of Western civilization.”

– Harvard historian Niall Ferguson, Civilization: The West and the Rest

Requests to change an account mailing address must be received in one of the following three ways:

• Email KingCountyTreasurer@kingcounty.gov. Be sure to include your parcel or account number in the email.
• By completing the Name and Address Update box on your property tax payment stub at the time you are sending payment.
• By downloading a Name and Address Change Request Form and mailing the completed form to: King County Treasury
  RE: Name and Address Change
  201 S. Jackson St., Suite 710
  Seattle, WA 98104 Your request should include your tax parcel or account number and your new name and/or mailing address. Please sign and date the request. We do not require copies of deeds or other legal documents since you are only changing the property tax mailing information and this does not affect ownership.

HERE is a link to King County Property Tax information from the County website.

HERE is a link to a further detailed explanation.

The Assessor’s Office has several instructional videos as well as a FAQ Page:

eAppeals: How to File an Appeal Online

Property Tax eAppeals

Tax Advisor Office

King County @ Your Service – Assessor

How Property Assessments Work?

Inter ACT – Property Taxes

First create an eAppeals account and then click Research Appeal so find and select up to 8 comparables. WARNING: This is a place to start. None may be in range or compare that closely to your home.

Tips for filing an appeal which must be within 60 days of the mailing date printed on your Official Property Value Notice Card. Please email me a PDF of the Card if you want me to assist you.

It contains what I have learned from assisting previous clients with appeals.

You can’t appeal for next year until the Official Property Value Notice Card is mailed to you.  Property taxes are paid in arrears. That means you could appeal for next year only in the 60-day window after the date on the Card, if you had true sales comparables from October to December of last  year (to estimate January 1st value for this year which is used to compute next year’s property taxes). Comparable values must be significantly less than your Assessed Value. Zillow has a good guide for how to find comparables.

For example, the Card you receive in 2022 is for 2023 taxes. The valuation date is January 01, 2022 for 2023 taxes. Comparables relevant to the valuation date value are going to be between October and December of 2021 – not on or after January 01, 2022. That means you will be looking several months back to find comparables, which can be challenging.

Finding comparables is outside the scope of legal services.  I can advise you on the merits of the information you find, and assist you in submitting the appeal.

Here is a link to a video from the King County Assessor with a process overview.

File online using eAppeals!  This will allow you to check on the current status of your appeal at any time and allow you to instantly view appeal related documents sent to you by the Board of Equalization and the King County Assessor.

Include all evidence with your appeal, or submit it as soon as possible.  An early submission will increase the possibility of receiving a reduction offer from the Assessor without having to attend a hearing.  Examples of useful types of evidence include but are not limited to:

Sales info of similar properties with sales dates close to the valuation date (January 1st)

Professional cost estimates to fix any structural defects or maintenance issues

Recorded documents that reference any easements or other restrictions on the property

Official communications or documentation from city, county, or an environmental agency confirming environmentally critical areas exist on the site, and/ or any development limitations affecting the property

In order to succeed on a valuation appeal you need to have at least two comparables from December to October of the previous year, since the valuation is based on January 1st, that are both at least 10% below the value of your home.  Comparables in December are given the most weight, with decreasing weight given for each month further away from the January 1st valuation date. That is why comparables not in the fourth quarter of the year have little value.

That means a match of:

type of home,

year built,

location,

square footage,

bedrooms,

bathrooms, and

condition

in the correct time period with a low enough value. 

You can use this comparables spreadsheet.

This is very difficult to do because values are often slightly depressed in December. 

When you calculate the multiple used to translate market value into assessed value, even swings of tens of thousands of dollars don’t make that much difference in your tax bill. For example, if your property tax is .007 percent of assessed value then a decrease in assessed value of $20,000 would result in a reduction of tax of $140.

Divide your current tax amount by the assessed value to find your percentage of tax to calculate the amount of reduction in your tax bill resulting from the reduction in assessed value.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have had a lot of clients try and fail to get a meaningful adjustment based on comps. 

UNDERSTAND THAT PROPERTY TAXES ARE BASED ON ASSESSED VALUE, WHICH IS OFTEN SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW MARKET PRICE. STRONG APPRECIATION YEAR AFTER YEAR HAS WIDENED THIS GAP SUCH THAT ASSESSED VALUE IS OFTEN LESS THAN 80% OF MARKET PRICE. THAT MEANS YOU HAVE HAVE TO HAVE TRULY COMPARABLE SALES WITHIN THE TIME FRAME THAT MATTERS THAT ARE MORE THAN 30% LOWER THAN THE ASSESSED VALUE OF YOUR HOME (ABOUT 2O% TO OVERCOME THE FACT THAT ASSESSED VALUE IS LESS THAN MARKET VALUE, AND ANOTHER 1O% TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TAXES). THIS IS VERY UNLIKELY.

The more likely to succeed approach is something particular to the property such as pictures of structural damage, black mold, or a neighborhood change like a new light rail interfering with your property.

I spoke with the Assessor’s Office by phone and they explained how property taxes are set. It is counterintuitive. The Assessor starts with the budget target for the year. Then the Assessor looks at the Statutory constraints on increases in property tax which set a maximum percentage per year. Then the Assessor apportions tax according to assessed value (which has two parts – land and improvements). Assessed value is typically at least 10% under market value. That is why it is so difficult to find market value comparables less than assessed value.

What that means is that the Assessor has to hit the budget target. Any reduction in your taxes is an increase in someone else’s taxes. I hope that helps explain the challenge involved. Having said that about 25% of homeowners who appeal receive some sort of adjustment even if it is only a couple hundred dollars.

Before filing an Appeal just email what you have to: 

Assessor.Info@KingCounty.Gov

After a few days, follow up with a phone call to: 

206-477-1060

The fact that about 5,000 people per month move to King County and housing stock cannot accommodate that is why prices continue to rise. This is also why so many multi-family condominiums and apartments are being built.

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Washington State residents can meet with me in Zoom/DocuSign from anywhere in the world, and I can notarize their electronic signatures because I am a remote online notary.  Just email me an image of your photo ID.