Chelan County Assessor

The city transmits the petition and any supporting documentation to the County Assessor for a determination of sufficiency, more commonly known as “certification”. The petition(s) were delivered to the Assessor’s office on December 17, 2014. The Assessor also sets the Terminal Date, RCW 35A.01.040 (4). The Terminal Date is the deadline for removal or addition of signatures to the petition(s).

The County Assessor must review the sufficiency of the petition (RCW 35A.01.040), which is a multi-step process. Signatures and property ownership must be verified. Another element of the certification process is determining the assessed value of all properties within the proposed annexation area. In Washington State, the assessed value of tax exempt is included.

The legislature determined that County Assessors are not required to carry fair market value of tax exempt properties. There are 67 exempt properties in the proposed annexation area that do not have a current value assigned. In addition, the Assessor’s office has not tracked any associated new construction or tenant improvements for these exempt properties because there is no benefit to the citizens or taxing districts for staff to spend time updating properties that do not contribute to the tax base. What this means is a wholesale review of these properties must be completed (inspections, measurements, use and occupancy determinations, etc.), along with market analyses for determining value for the petition certification process.

No  - RCW 35A.01.040 (Sufficiency of Petitions) states that, “The office or officers whose duty it is to determine the sufficiency of the petition shall proceed to make such a determination with reasonable promptness...”

The Assessor’s office is charged with completing several specific obligations, on a date specific timeline. We work from a state mandated Property Tax Calendar identifying which tasks or reports need to be completed every month. It is important to meet these timelines because all taxing districts rely on our assessments for the levy process. Delay by this office on annual revaluation inspections would cause delays for other neighboring counties due to having joint taxing districts such as the Regional Library District and the Azwell/Pateros School District, along with hindering the state’s ability to equalize and distribute the State Assessed Utilities values for all 39 counties.

May 31st is a deadline we must meet for issuing Notice of Value (change) statements. There is a 30 appeal period for those notices . All new construction must be inspected by July 31st of every year, and placed on the tax rolls (entered into the software system) by August 31st . New construction is an “add-on” funding for all taxing districts, above and beyond their 1% increase limitation. After new construction, the values are certified for the levy process and inspections begin for the next inspection cycle. Approximately 12,000 inspections are conducted between September and the following April. Once the inspections are complete, the staff assists in market analysis for the entire county (approximately 43,000 parcels) and updating values county-wide now that state law requires annual updates. . This brings us back to the May 31st deadline for sending out Notices of Value. There are time sensitive deadlines our office must meet. The certification of the annexation petition must occur in conjunction with, and in between, our regular mandated deadlines, not in-lieu of them.

234 total – 62 of those properties are Exempt from taxation, and thus, do not have a current value listed (State, City, County, Port District, State Patrol, Link Transit, Washington Apple Commission, Chelan County PUD). Five of them are considered State Assessed Utilities (BNSF Railway, General Telephone). Current fair market values are held on every taxable parcel.

In 2013, the legislature passed a bill stating that County Assessor’s was no longer required to carry fair market value on tax exempt properties. Prior to that legislation, it was common practice among most Assessors to only update those Exempt values if time permitted, as the taxing districts do not receive revenue from either the general assessment or new construction on exempt properties.

State Assessed Utilities are those utilities that cross county lines. They are values established by the State Department of Revenue. For example, BNSF is given one value for all of Chelan County, even though there are 130 BNSF owned parcels in Chelan County. We must determine what proportionate share is attributable to the 4 parcels inside the proposed annexation boundary. The same situation arises for General Telephone. There is one parcel within the proposed annexation boundary, but only 3 total parcels in Chelan County.

The details of each exempt property may, or may not, be accurate, as uses could have changed and/or new construction may have occurred. Just as with any other property appraisal, a certified Commercial Appraiser needs to visit each of the parcels, detail the property improvements, measure structures, identify uses, calculate impervious surface, and determine the per square foot land value. For some parcels this may be a very simple process, but for others it could be very complicated. For example: Confluence State Park has at least 1,000 feet of Columbia River Waterfront, an RV park, and day use facilities. We must determine how to value those improvements and then look for comparable sales for market adjustments.

Yes, owners of tax-exempt property may sign annexation petitions just as owners of taxable property may.

Yes.

Yes – However, in early January, I spoke with a commercial appraiser from the Department of Revenue (DOR) who typically provides our advisory appraisals for properties valued over $25 million. At that time, I asked what his schedule was for the spring and summer and inquired as to whether he would be available to assist with the exempt property appraisals in Olds Station. He informed me that he would not have time to assist, and that resources at DOR are not available right now. I also spoke to David Saavedra, DOR Property Tax Program Coordinator, and asked if I needed to send a formal written request for assistance and he said, “No, we’ve spoken and DOR doesn’t have the resources to send help anyway.”

The Assessor is independently elected and if given the budget authority, can contract for some outside services. However, contracting for appraisal services in this situation is problematic. Several issues arise:

1. The contractee must possess a current and active “certification” from the State of Washington for property tax appraisals, not a “license” as with a private sector or “ fee” appraiser. The appraisals required here are not fee appraisals. Counties use the mass appraisal process to value properties and still must comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice(USPAP).
2. Unlike building inspection, plans examiner, or AICP certifications that are available on a national level to those meeting certain qualifications (and willing to study and sit for the exams), this particular appraisal certification is only available to employees of a county appraisal office within the State of Washington. The certification process requires 1 year of practical experience before applying for certification, not merely just passing the coursework and exam.
3. In addition, any values placed on the properties by a contract employee must be verified and reviewed by our office. That means double-checking the work, measurements, comparables, etc. No time is saved; the same amount of work goes into reviewing a contract appraisal as having Assessor staff do it themselves.
4. Chelan County is Teamsters Local 760 shop. This means that some working and scheduling conditions are covered under the union contract and must be negotiated. Contracting services within the scope of a position already occupied by an Assessor’s office staff person would be a violation of the union contract and expose our office to grievances and/or unfair labor practices (ULP) claims.

Yes – another reason why using a contract appraiser to conduct appraisals is problematic. Any value placed on any property is appealable to the Chelan County Board of Equalization (BOE) within 30 days of the mailing of the Notice of Value. The BOE decision is appealable to the State Board of Tax Appeals (BTA), and from there it is appealable to court. Any value placed on a property must be defended before each appellate body by the Assessor’s office. This would require the contract employee remain under contract with the Assessor’s office or become an employee of the Assessor’s office to be available for testimony through at least the initial appellate stage. Budget constraints also impact both options.

I committed to having the process completed by the end of September and I stand by that statement. The certification process itself is not a guarantee that the annexation will move forward –it must meet specific criteria (ownership verification, signature verification and 60% valuation by petition signors). The certification process is a review of these criteria and could be certified as either meeting, or not meeting the required thresholds.

No – this is not true. Annexations, whether they are proposed under the ballot or petition method, are independent actions. Not only can different annexation proposals be processed concurrently, but a property can be included in more than one proposal and/or annexation method (ballot/petition). They are NOT dependent on each other, or the completion of one before another can be initiated.

Yes – the City received a letter from the Sustainability Committee dated June 9th, 2014, recommending, among other actions, expansion of the City limits via annexation ofthe Olds Station area. Contacting the Assessor’s office in early summer of 2014, when the petition was being discussed with property owners/taxpayers, would have facilitated an opportunity to integrate some of the exempt property inspections into our schedule when staff was available. The first contact made with the Assessor’s office was via the City of Wenatchee Community Development Department on October 28th, 2014. The petition was presented to our office on December 17th, 2014.