Click image to enlarge.
Colette Weeks
Water views — like this one from the 2400 block of Highland Drive — are part of the reason that property values in the Skyline community of Anacortes have soared in recent years. These homes have a view of Skyline Marina and Burrows Bay.
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ANACORTES — When property appraisals hit the mailboxes in Skyline last fall, many residents said they were shocked — some discovered their property tax bills had doubled.
Moreover, a comparison of the values of about 250 properties in the Skyline area by three members of a property owners association revealed a number of anomalies and a pattern of dramatic jumps in assessed value over the past five years.
The comparison by the members of the Skyline Beach Club prompted the club’s board to ask elected officials to attend a community meeting Tuesday night to explain why the increases were so large.
County commissioners Sharon Dillon and Don Munks, and county Chief Deputy Assessor Wesley Hagen attended the meeting. Hagen stood in for Assessor Mark Leander, who did not attend for health reasons.
About 90 Skyline residents packed the Skyline Beach Club to hear what the officials had to say. At least 28 people asked questions.
“What we want to know is: Why are we in the west end getting hit so hard?” resident Dorothy Matson asked.
Over the past five years, property values in Skyline have jumped an average of 204 percent, with the largest jump of 29 percent coming from 2006 to 2007, according to the committee’s figures.
Elsewhere in Skagit County, waterfront property and neighborhoods with expensive real estate, such as Cap Sante in Anacortes and Eaglemont in Mount Vernon, had much lower increases.
“It’s our opinion, based on this study, that the Assessor’s Office needs to go back and do some homework,” said Frank Higgins, past president of the beach club and chairman of the committee that looked at the assessments. “We’re certainly able to provide all the homework. It should be easy for the Assessor’s Office to go check.”
Reggie Caton’s lot is valued at $60,000 more than a neighbor’s with the same view. He wondered why his property was appraised for more than neighbors with similar property.
Hagen said he couldn’t answer questions about specific properties because he didn’t have the information with him Tuesday.
Dillon told audience members she hadn’t expected such a large gathering and intense concern.
“I apologize to each and every one of you,” Dillon said. “My intention was not to bring (Hagen) here and throw him to the wolves and let you go home frustrated.”
Dillon and Hagen promised that they would meet with the beach club committee to go over their research. She said the Assessor’s Office and the commissioners would report back to the community sometime over the next several weeks.
On Tuesday, Hagen explained the appraisal process and provided some reasons for the higher property tax bills.
Part of the increase, he explained, is the result of the passage of several tax levies. Anacortes voters approved levies for an expansion at Island Hospital, for Anacortes School District operations costs, and for the re-authorization of a countywide emergency services levy that pays for ambulances.
“We have many men and women living here on fixed incomes — retired military personnel and government workers,” resident Eddie Griffin said. “What are you going to do? Tax us out of our homes? It’s constant. Many of these people are over 65 years of age. We can’t continue to take a hit like that year after year.”
Hagen said it’s likely the Assessor’s Office has probably erred in some of its assessments in Skyline.
“I have no doubt that we’ve made one or two (mistakes), more like one or two hundred,” Hagen said.
* Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .
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Posted by fullmain on 
March 27, 2008 - 07:16 AM
Just goes to show us all how expensive the infiltration of the out of state retirees has impacted us all. Too bad the greedy developers and real estate agents could not be required to offset the property tax escalation! The common working person is being priced into poverty and extinction!