PORT TOWNSEND — Although retired teacher and fisherman Ed Barcott lives comfortably in the 1887 Rose Cottage in uptown Port Townsend, he has a hard time accepting how skyrocketing property values are hammering modest- to low-income taxpayers, many who are his neighbors.
“My concern is about a whole lot of other people,” says Barcott, who went before the Jefferson County Board of Equalization four years ago when his taxes doubled.
“When I moved up here my taxes were $300 a year. Now they’re $2,000 and are to go up again,” says Barcott, who bought his home at 807 Harrison St. in 1971 for $19,000.
The home is today valued at about $200,000.
Expecting another significant tax boost, Barcott is anticipating a second appearance before the Board of Equalization, which considers the cases of those protesting their property assessments.
“I know they can’t do anything about it. That’s what’s wrong with this system. There’s no recourse.
“The Board of Equalization, they’re locked in and they will tell you they’re limited in what they can do.”
Lawmakers at fault
Barcott, 78, rails at state lawmakers, who he says refuse to fix the system that drives property taxes up based on the property’s ever-rising market value.
Since homes in Barcott’s neighborhood are selling for between $160,000 and $400,000, he sees it as a “goofy system” that favors the rich at the expense of those on fixed or modest incomes.
While he and his wife, Eileen, plan to stay, he sees others being taxed out of his neighborhood as prices continue to soar.
A home next door, he said, sold for $200,000 two years ago. The owner stayed in the home for a year and sold it again for $240,000, he said.
“By law only the Legislature can change that market value law, but the Republicans and Democrats will do nothing,” Barcott complains.
Like other assessors, Jefferson County’s Jack Westerman has the thankless job of setting the value of homes and property for the sake of taxation.
The North Olympic Peninsula’s longest-seated elected official, Westerman says he understands that right now the county has runaway property taxes, driven by skyrocketing property values set using a formula based in state law.
“Unless you are in the real estate market, it’s hard to fathom,” Westerman says, referring to Barcott’s case.
Under state law, the assessed valuation has to be close to market value.
“For all real property, everybody has to be at 100 percent of market value,” says the assessor.