Fight over 8% tax hike central to Snohomish County budget talks
EVERETT — A fight over an increase in property taxes threatens to derail Snohomish County’s work on a new, biennial budget.
Each year, Snohomish County, like any other county in Washington, can impose a 1% property tax increase without voter approval. More importantly, the county does not have to levy the additional tax each year.
If the county chooses not to levy the tax, the percentage is saved for use later, which is called banked capacity. Snohomish County has done this for years and now has a banked capacity of 6.31%.
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Democratic council members Megan Dunn and Strom Peterson support using the entire banked capacity over the next two years. This includes the 6.3% of banked capacity, plus the 1% the county will get each of the next two years, for a total property tax increase of 8.3%. This is what County Executive Dave Somers recommended in his budget plan.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/fight-over-8-tax-hike-central-to-snohomish-county-budget-talks/