Pierce County property taxes total $1.9B in 2023
(The Center Square) – Property tax collections in Pierce County have begun and are expected to generate nearly $2 billion for county and local services.
Throughout the county, property taxes billed this year total $1.85 billion, a 5.1% increase over 2022, according to Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Mike Lonergan. The tax statements have been sent to approximately 174,000 property owners, with the average countywide tax bill being about $5,600 in 2023.
Lonergan said that statutory limits on property tax rates have reduced the tax rate by over a dollar in nearly every taxing district in the county despite the real estate values surge in 2022.
“The only significant tax increases are in areas where voters approved new levies or bonds,” Lonergan said in a statement. “As a result, we see moderate tax increases in most of Pierce County, even small decreases in Edgewood and Sumner, where a school bond was paid off.”
Washington state and local levies for schools make up 59% of all property taxes in Pierce County. The cities and county levies add up to 19.6% and fire/EMS districts are set at 11.8%. “Together, these account for over 90% of Pierce County’s property tax,” Lonergan explained.
There were 17 school levies in 10 school districts approved by county voters last year. Voters in five fire districts approved multi-year levy lid lifts or renewed Emergency Medical Services levies.
Notably, Gig Harbor Fire District 5 passed a 20-year bond that made Gig Harbor Peninsula property owners see their taxes go up 11%, the highest jump in Pierce County this year, according to county data.
County voters also approved a Tacoma Metro Parks levy lid lift that restores the rate to 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Pierce County property tax revenue goes towards city and county government, schools, fire districts, emergency medical service, parks, libraries, roads, the Port of Tacoma, Sound Transit and flood control, according to Lonergan.
