washington state tax variations, part 2542

There can be wide variations in how much property owners are taxed in various cities, King County Assessor Scott Noble says. ( Read more... )

The differences are a result of the public will and taxing districts. Voter approval of various measures — school levies and hospitals bonds, for example — account for about 40 percent of a property owner's tax bill.

Then each county can have more than 100 taxing districts related to its community services — water districts, school districts, fire districts, etc. — and each will want its slice of the property-tax pie.

That's why what a property owner pays "depends on where they live — there are different rates for different parts of the county," Noble said.

And because taxing districts can overlap, King County alone has 268 total property-tax levy rates.
Source: Home Forum column

So the property tax (pdf) rate varies depending on where you live. And the assessed value varies depending on many factors...of which location is a biggie. According to the state's website, "[t]here are approximately 3,300 unique Tax Code Areas in the state of Washington."

Redmond PSA

A semi truck rolled off the East 520 exit to West Lake Sammamish Parkway this morning and crashed into the Sammamish River. The extent of the driver's injuries aren't known.

More info:
DOT's exit cam: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/sr520_westlakesammpway.htm#cam
News story: http://www.komotv.com/stories/45207.htm
Area traffic status: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/

Mayor Nickels' Proposed Nightclub Regs, or Why Dan Savage Took Drugs into City Hall

Seattle's mayor proposed new regs for nightclubs, including "Nightclubs shall prevent patrons from entering a nightclub premises with any illegal drugs." And: "prevent patrons from entering a nightclub with any weapons." Not post a no-carry rule, not evict patrons using drugs, not use your judgement: prevent anyone from walking in with a joint in a pack of cigs or an illegal tablet in the bottle of midol in their purse. This struck Savage as impractical. So he conducted a small experiment.

If the mayor expects club owners to keep drugs and weapons out of their clubs, it seemed reasonable to expect that he would be able to keep drugs and weapons out of City Hall. Carrying drugs and packing simulated heat, I fully expected to be tackled before I could walk in the door.

Read the article. Not only does he get into city hall, he gets a tour of the mayor's office.

The mayor wasn't around—which is too bad, because I wanted to offer him a pot cookie, too, and ask him this question: If it was as easy to sneak drugs [and a prop gun] into a particular club as it was to sneak them into City Hall, would he shut that club down? Probably. So what's he going to do about City Hall then? Maybe we can discuss it the next time I drop by his office with drugs in my bike bag.

Now, granted, most people aren't authors whose books are appreciated by the mayor's legal counsel. Personally I think the staffers in the mayor's office reacted with good judgement where the drugs were concerned; Savage wasn't causing a disturbance or busting up the place, and Seattle has mandated that pot enforcement is low priority. Which also raises a question about how much room nightclub operators should have to exercise their own judgement.

And I'd still love to see Mayor Nickels' face when he reads the article :)

Bonus: Photos of the bag, cookies, and "gun".

Update: After reading solcita's post, I am wondering again why none of the cops or staffers reacted to the prop gun. It's a prop, meant to look real on stage. It does not look fake. Frankly, when reading that he had it in his waistband while walking into the building, I expected him to say that he'd been stopped by security. Of course it could be the gun wasn't visible under his t-shirt...

Seattle-Area Housing Costs

This put it in terms that worked for me:

Here's the minimum household income you needed to buy a median-priced home last year in these areas, assuming a 20 percent down payment and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.87 percent (the national average for 2005).
Queen Anne:	$135,309
Central Bellevue:	$129,406
Green Lake:	$107,838
W. West Seattle:	$104,421
Lake Sammamish:	$104,206
East Ballard, Bothell, Central Area:	$90,811
Lake City, Beacon Hill:	$76,281
Source: Seattle Times analysis of King County assessor's data.

You can drill down a bit on their website - for example, this map of the Eastside lets you look more detailed information on the "Central Bellevue" area. I'm a bit surprised that the central and east Shoreline-area medians are over $300K...I grew up in Shoreline, and persist in thinking of it as "inexpensive".

I do wonder what the income numbers would be for the average-priced house in each of those areas....