The numbers have been crunched, the dust has settled, and the impact of the state’s new education funding plan on taxpayers in 2018 is now clear.
Legislation passed in 2017 adds more money for public schools through a new state school tax. Engrossed House Bill 2242 increases the state general tax in Kitsap County 55 percent in 2018, according to Kitsap County Treasurer Meredith Green.
The county has certified the tax roll for 2018, calculating and verifying how much each property owner owes to the state and local taxing districts, including schools. Although property tax bills won’t be mailed out until Feb. 15 in the familiar pink envelopes, property owners can now go online at kitsapgov.com and see their tax bill.
Green and Kitsap County Assessor Phil Cook have been making the rounds of service clubs and other community groups to explain details of the bill and its impact on Kitsap’s property owners.
Under EHB 2242, the state school levy for Kitsap County taxpayers increases from $2.12 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2017 to $3.03 per $1,000 in 2018 and beyond, an increase of $91 per $100,000 of assessed value.
For the owner of a $300,000 home, the new state tax means a $273 annual increase. If you live on Bainbridge Island, where the typical home is around $600,000, the tax hike is $546 per year, Green said.
Countywide, property owners will also be impacted by a voter-approved Kitsap Regional Library levy, which increases taxes by $9 per $100,000 of assessed value.
The new school funding model is designed to shift the burden of paying for basic education off local levies, which originally were intended for enrichment activities. EHB 2242 caps local school levies in 2019 at $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. But in 2018, taxpayers in school districts throughout Kitsap County will see an increase in their combined local and state tax rate, as the new state tax kicks in before the old local levy rates are phased out.
“This year, everybody is going to be paying more in property taxes because of the overlap,” Green said.
On Feb. 13, voters in Bremerton and North Kitsap school districts will be asked to approve local school levies capped at $1.50 per $1,000. In other districts where maintenance and operations levies are not set to expire, the rate will drop to $1.50 per $1,000 regardless in 2019 and beyond.
The cap on local levies will mean a lower combined school tax rate in 2019 and beyond … for most Kitsap districts.
Bainbridge Island could be the exception, according to Kitsap County tax officials. The island’s high property values have resulted in local levy rates below the cap. So, potentially Bainbridge Island’s combined school tax rate could increase in 2019. Bainbridge officials, however, project a local school levy rate below $1.50 per $1,000. The projected rate of $1.29 per $1,000 is lower than the 2018 rate of $1.39.
In setting the cap, the new law overrides local tax collection amounts approved by voters in past elections. That means less money for schools from local levies. Under EHB 2242, the decrease in revenue from local levies is supposed to be more than offset by an increase in state funding to schools.
The new funding model aims to even out the way K-12 basic education is paid for across the state. In general, large, urban, property-rich counties — like King, Pierce and Snohomish — will pay proportionately more toward the state’s basic education funding than in the past. School districts in counties like Kitsap, which have relied heavily on local levy money for basic education, will, in theory, reap the benefit of the boost in state funding. Most of the increase will go to salary hikes for teachers and other school employees.
The total school tax rate in each district includes not only the state tax and local levies but also bonds and capital levies. Overall, tax rates are impacted each year by new voter-approved measures and tax changes in all taxing districts, including fire districts, ports, cities, utility and parks districts.
In 2018, Bremerton School District's capital measures include a 20-year bond approved in 2006 and a three-year capital levy that expires at the end of 2019. If voters approve on Feb. 13, the district will add in 2019 a one-year technology levy that would cost taxpayers an estimated 61 cents per $1,000.
Bainbridge taxpayers are paying on three longterm school bond measures approved in 2006, 2009 and 2016. Taxpayers on the island will see increases from a fire district lid lift, a parks bond and a voter-approved increase in the school maintenance and operations levy.
Central Kitsap School District has a bond approved in 2016.
North Kitsap has a bond expiring in 2018, the rate for which is significantly lower than in previous years, resulting in a tax decrease that helps mitigate the state’s tax increase. The district on Feb. 13 will ask voters to approve a four-year, $40 million capital levy, the estimated rate for which is $1.31 per $1,000. Residents of Poulsbo will see a small increase in their city taxes.
South Kitsap has no capital measures. Voters there will see tax increases from a fire district lid lift and a voter-approved increase in the school maintenance and operations levy.
For detailed information on your tax bill and information about the state’s new education tax, visit the Kitsap County assessor’s web page. To see how your taxes are distributed, visit the Kitsap County treasurer’s webpage. Both may be accessed from the county’s website at kitsapgov.com.
Contact the assessor at assessor@co.kitsap.wa.us and the treasurer at treasurer@co.kitsap.wa.us.
