Understanding Your Tax Statement

The following explains what you are seeing on your property tax statement from Island County:

GEO Parcel Number

Plats & Condos start with an "S"
Metes & Bounds start with an "R"
Manufactured and non-title-eliminated Mobile Homes start with an "M"
Commercial Personal Property starts with a "C"
Farm Personal Property starts with an "F"
Utility Property starts with a "U"

These numbers are specific to the location of the property. Each set of numbers (between the dashes) gives specific information such as Range, Township, Division, Block, Lot Numbers, etc.

Property ID Number

The PID # is a three to six digit number that is randomly assigned by the tax & assessment system individual to each property. The Treasurer's Office references all properties by the PID number. However, for applications requiring a legal document such as a deed, the GEO parcel number is preferred.

Property Type

Some examples of property types include (but are not limited to):

Real (Physical Land/Buildings)
Personal (Business Equipment)
Mobile (Manufactured Homes)
Utility (Utility Properties)

Tax Code Area

This number is specific to the area in which the property is located and characteristics of the property. This number determines the district to which your taxes will be distributed as collected. Please contact the Assessor's Office for an explanation of your Tax Code Area if you have questions.

Owner ID

This six digit number is randomly assigned by the property tax & assessment system. If you own several properties that were purchased in the same transaction, the same owner ID number will probably be the same on all of your tax statements. If the properties were purchased separately or closed under different affidavits then a new number will be assigned to each property. Different owner numbers do not affect your taxes in any way.

Statement ID

This six digit number is randomly assigned by the property tax & assessment system. This number is individual to each yearly statement, it will be different for each property, and it will be changed every year. If remitting correspondence or tax payments DO NOT use this number.

Owner

This states the legal owner of the property. Often the Assessor's office will abbreviate or change the tax statement "Owner" name so it can be delivered to a specific person. For example, instead of an entire Trust's name on the account, the Trustee to whom mail is addressed may be the only owner listed on the statement. Please contact the Assessor's office if the property ownership is incorrect on your statement.

Abbreviated Legal/Physical Address

The legal description box should contain the physical address of your property if one exists. Below that information should be the "legal description" of your property. It may be simple such as "Plat of Sunny Acres Farm Blk 2 Lot 13" but it could also show what appear to be random letters and numbers. Those letters and numbers may specifically identify the location of that exact property on the map. The legal description may be abbreviate to two lines on the statement even though it might be several paragraphs in length. Please see the Assessor's office or your last recorded Deed for the full legal description.

Value Information

This information is a basic overview of the property's assessed value for land and improvements. Property taxes are based on the levy rate multiplied by the assessed value. The left column shows the taxable value from the previous year and the right column shows the taxable value for the current year. If your taxes increased or decreased, it may be due to a change in these values. A small change usually does not affect your tax amounts but a significant change could result in a noticeable difference in property taxes. If you have a question about your assessed value, please contact the Assessor's Office.

Tax Distribution

This area defines all of the levies to which your property is subject, based on your tax code area. The list shows where every dollar of your tax payment is directed. For further information on the taxing district's fund usage, please contact the district directly. A contact list can be found here. Items such as "State School", "Island County General Fund", and "Island County Roads" are usually found on all the statements in the County. Others may be more specific to your area, such as water, school, and fire districts. A boundary map of the different taxing districts is available to view.

Assessments

Your statement usually has benefit fee assessments listed. Unlike tax levies, these amounts are not based on an assessed value but a specific benefit to the property.

Forest Protection - Begins at $17.50
Landowner Contingency Forest Fire Assessment - Begins at $6
Clean Water Utility - $39.13
Whidbey or Camano Island Conservation District - Begins at $5.10
Mosquito Control Benefit - Begins at $70.87
Diking or Drainage Districts - Depends on the District
Forest Fire Protection Assessment Refund Form

Amount Due

The first amount due section on the body of the statement (not the coupons) is a subtotal of the taxes and assessments and contains only the remaining amount due for that current entire year. If delinquent taxes are owing, those would not be included in that amount.

Payment Coupons

The first half coupon, which is the bottom removable coupon, is marked with a large '1.' This coupon shows the current year first half taxes that are due as well as any prior year delinquent amounts. The second half coupon, marked with a large '2,' will only show the second half portion of the current year taxes. If delinquencies exist on the account they will be identified on the First Half Payment (#1) coupon by year.

The back of your statement has important information available for the taxpayer.