Assessment values v. taxes

In response to Gordon Hall, Nov. 2 letter (“Mead taxpayers beware”) about Mead School district and tax rates versus assessed values of homes.

His statement is that assessed property rates have gone up 30% and so the extra property taxes created based on that should allow the district to have plenty of money. I hear this misunderstanding over and over again.

Assessed property values are used in a relative sense to the budget that is created. Your house could go up 100% in assessed value but if the budget isn’t increased the millage rate on your house goes down by half and you pay the exact same amount of taxes. The only way your taxes go up is if the budget is increased, which raises the millage rate, or your house goes up faster than the average house and so your proportional share of the budget goes up.

I remember a time when property assessed rates went up significantly where I live and people stormed the courthouse to protest, thinking their taxes would go up. My property was assessed a large increase in value but my property taxes went down 5% because the average property went up more than mine.

Keith Hegg

Spokane