Small Town News

Concerns raised over assessments

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Some residents around Tiger Lake, Panther Lake and LakeLand Village feel as though their properties are not being assessed at fair market value, according to the testimony of nearly a dozen homeowners at the Mason County commissioners meeting in Belfair Tuesday.

Property owner after property owner shared their grievances with the county commissioners, stating problems they've encountered with confrontational appraisers and unsympathetic members of the Board of Equalization, which hears appeals to property assessments.

"The current assessments around Tiger and Panther Lakes have owners outraged," said Ken Langhorn, a Tiger Lake resident of 30 years. "The assessor's office is trying to attribute the [rise in] assessment values to [Mason County] being on a four-year revaluation cycle instead of a one-year. It's still inflated.

"This is the first time I've felt I had to file a petition."

With rising property assessments, one woman, widowed two years ago, testified that she didn't think she could afford to keep the home her father-in-law had built in 1969.

Jennifer Sims, of Panther Lake Road in Bremerton, said that her Mason County neighbors were being assessed at values much higher than their adjacent Kitsap counterparts one Kitsap neighbor's home had been assessed at $103, 000, while a Mason County neighbor's home was valued at twice as much, $206, 000.

"The assessor's [office] is not seeking fair market value of property," Sims said. "The appeals are rejected or minimally addressed ... I think it's a real issue and I hope the commissioners can put some sense in their heads."

All three commissioners said they were limited in what they could do with the assessor's office, which is an elected position.

"We will work with you and work with the assessor, but the assessor is an individually elected official," said Commission Chair Lynda Ring Erick-son. "It's not empty to talk to us, I think we all care, but just so you understand, there are limitations."

Following public testimony, which included comment on the Belfair Water District's upcoming hearing in Shelton over the River Hill annexation and pleas for the county to adopt some type of medical marijuana dispensary ordinance, county staff gave updates on various departments.

Parks & Trails Director John Keates shared the county's plans to acquire property at the edge of North Bay for the North Bay trail project, funded in part through recent grants from the state capital budget, and plans to improve parking at Latimer's Landing and the Union Boat Ramp.

Keates also sought public input as the county moves forward with creating a master plan for the undeveloped Harvey Rendsland Park on Jiggs Lake near Belfair Tahuya Road.

The first meeting to look at park design will be held sometime this month, Keates said.

Staff with the Stormwater Program and the Shoreline Master Program also "entreated the public to share their input at upcoming public meetings.

The Stormwater Program is hosting three public meetings next week to solicit opinions on managing water resources at noon on June 7 at the Public Works building in Shelton, at 5:30 p.m. on June 8 at the Hoodsport Fire Hall and at 5:30 p.m. on June 9 at the Theler Community Center in Belfair.

The Shoreline Master Program will be holding an open house at 3 p.m. on July 19 at the Harmony Hill Retreat Center in Union.

After the presentations, more members of the public testified their dissatisfaction with the assessor's office.

"There's nothing fair about it, there's nothing equitable about it," said David Rahm, who lives at Tiger Lake in Belfair and noted that he and neighbors received arbitrary front-foot values around the same lake. "If there wasn't a problem, we wouldn't be here."

The commissioners said they would work within their limitations to address the problem.

"This is such a volatile issue, especially for waterfront property owners," said Commissioner Tim Sheldon.



Copyright 2011 Shelton-Mason County Journal, Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Shelton-Mason County Journal Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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