MOUNT VERNON — Are property taxes in Washington state fair? It depends on whom you ask.

At a meeting on the Skagit Valley College campus Thursday, King County Assessor Scott Noble told local legislators and members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, “Our system is quite fair — with exceptions.”

California residents pay property taxes that are 15 percent higher than those in Washington, Noble told the legislators, even though taxes in California are based on a home’s purchase price. Here, the property tax is based on current home values, which have gone up dramatically in the past few years.

Oregon homes can only increase in taxable value by 3 percent annually, and property taxes there are still 61 percent higher than in Washington.

Noble’s point was that many of the property tax reforms the state Legislature has considered over the years are already in effect in other states, but those states don’t have lower property taxes than Washington.

“When considering tax reforms, you must be very careful what you ask for,” Noble told the committee on its second stop of a five-city property-tax tour before the next legislative session.

Sen. Val Stevens, the Arlington Republican who has represented the 39th Legislative District, including eastern Skagit County, since 1992, said her constituents don’t see the system in such a favorable light.

When she talks to people — she’s rung 7,000 doorbells so far this election year — they tell her that property taxes are their No. 1 concern.

“You might be able to hear from an assessor that we’re all very fair and just, but the people who are having to dig into their pockets don’t think so,” Stevens said.

She supports eliminating the state property tax altogether. The state gets roughly 25 percent of residents’ property tax payment. Other pieces of the pie go to cities, counties, dike districts, school districts, fire districts, libraries, cemeteries, hospitals and other taxing districts.

“The No. 1 thing I would ask for is to get Washington state out of the property tax business. We need to reduce the spending, that’s plain and simple,” Stevens said.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen of Camano Island, a Democrat representing the 10th District, including Island and southwest Skagit counties, disagrees with such a drastic plan.

“We have a responsibility to fund our schools. I wouldn’t want to shift more responsibility on local districts because they would have to raise their levies,” Haugen said.

Haugen favors what’s called a homestead or homeowner’s exemption, which would reduce the taxable value of a home by $100,000.

“I have a concern about what I call the working poor. With the homeowner’s exemption, you’d be giving them a break,” Haugen said.

She also introduced a bill last year that would have increased the number of taxpayers eligible for the senior citizens’ exemption. She proposed lifting the income limit from $35,000 to $40,000, but the bill died in the House of Representatives.

More than 114,000 property owners got tax exemptions in 2007 because they were seniors or disabled and were below the income limit. They each saved almost $1,500 in annual property taxes.

Assessors are wary of advantages to groups of taxpayers because the burden then shifts to those who don’t qualify for exemptions.

“We are opposed to what the assessors want to do,” said Chuck Jensen of Camano Island, a property owner who testified at the committee hearing. “They would not like to have senior citizen exemptions at all. It puts too much taxing back on other people.”

The tax shift is insignificant, Jensen said, and he lobbies Haugen hard for additional benefits for seniors.

Jensen noted that legislators’ track record on property tax reform is thin. In this year’s session, 19 bills were introduced to improve the senior exemption. None passed.

“They just don’t want to do anything,” Jensen said.

Island County Assessor David Mattens had a prosaic solution for those who complain about their property taxes. Short of refusing to paint the outside of their homes to avoid a higher assessment, Mattens said, property owners can “simply vote no” on voter-approved taxes for schools, hospitals and other districts.

In Island County, Mattens said, 30 percent to 40 percent of a property owner’s tax bill is self-imposed through voter-approved measures. In Skagit County, the numbers are similar, with Mount Vernon on the high end. Property tax payers there see 48 percent of their bill going to items they approved on the ballot.

“Think about it the next time you go to a voting booth. But keep in mind, if you vote no, you’re voting for no services,” Mattens said.

* Ralph Schwartz can be reached at 360-416-2138 or .