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Believe me. I feel it too. We all pay too much in taxes. Some people have had to sell their homes and move away from our area because of high property taxes.
I’ve worked hard to hold down taxes in many different ways, and City-of-Renton-imposed property tax rates have actually been decreasing for many years under my watch. Recent hikes in our total property tax bills were mostly voter-approved Sound Transit 3 and State education taxes from the McCleary decision, along with other growth at state and county levels.
Here is one real-world detailed example of how I’ve worked to reduce the taxes you pay to the City of Renton: As Council President in 2009, I led a project to cut the legislative department’s non-labor expenses by 55%. This saved taxpayers thousands of dollars and set an important example for all other city departments that year. See the implementation plan I prepared and sent to Council in my 2009 blog entry by clicking here. Be sure to read the citizen comments that follow the blog entry. This is a demonstration of the sensible and frugal way that, as Mayor, I will manage your tax money at the City of Renton on a day to day basis.
By combining city hall efficiency with new revenues from new retail and commercial growth (like IKEA, Southport, the Landing) I’ve worked hard to curb increases in City of Renton’s property tax rates while still investing in new parks and services. In recent years we’ve boosted our city’s assessed valuation with major new buildings, like the Hyatt Regency, Courtyard by Marriott, and Hampton Inn near Lake Washington, and a new IKEA store. The more buildings we get of this quality, the more we can shift property taxes away from homeowners. In the near future, the new offices at Southport, along with new construction in downtown and the highlands, will add significantly to our tax rolls. These new businesses give us sales taxes as well, bolstering the city’s budget with tens of millions of dollars per year.
Here’s the specifics on how City of Renton property tax rates have dropped. Renton’s total assessed value (all our homes and businesses put together) in 2017 was 15.1 billion dollars. In 2019 this value increased to 19.2 billion. This is an increase in assessed valuation of 27 percent over two years. My home’s tax assessment increased 25 % during this time, which was pretty typical. New buildings coming onto the tax rolls contributed about 2% of new assessed valuation. During this same two-year period we lowered Renton property tax rates from $1.61 per thousand in 2017 to $1.12 in 2019. In summary, a 27 percent increase in assessed value, along with extra sales tax and other revenues, allowed us to make a 30% reduction in property tax rates over this two year period. City of Renton taxes on my home for example decreased from ($466,000 X 1.61 =) $750 in 2017 to ($582,000 X 1.12 = ) $652 in 2019.
As Mayor, I’ll continue to work to lower your City of Renton taxes, and I’ll work with the County and State to do the same thing.
(I did not go back to 2016, because voters agreed to split off our Fire Authority that year which complicates the numbers. The city’s property tax rate decreased $1.10, from $2.70 in 2016 to $1.60 in 2017, but taxpayers had to begin paying a little more than the $1.10 decrease to the newly-created Renton Fire Authority in the form property tax and a fire benefit charge based on building square footage. The voter-approved change added a new fire station, new aid cars, and additional fire fighters, which make us safer. The Fire Authority taxation is now outside direct city jurisdiction.)
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