UPDATE 01/25/2012 - 2:00 PM

Information for my employers, the taxpayers.

Taxpayers will be able to view their 2012 property taxes on the Assessor-Treasurer's website after 4:30PM on Friday, February 3, 2012.

Property tax statements for 2012 collections will be delivered to those Pierce County taxpayers that pay their own property taxes, starting on Wednesday, February 15, 2012. If your property taxes are paid through your mortgage company you will not receive a statement, your mortgage company will be notified of taxes due.

If you pay your own property tax and have not received a statement by the end of February, please call our customer service line at 253/798-6111 so a statement can be sent to you.

All 2012 levy reports including Average Tax Rates, Summary of Assessed Values in Pierce County and Summary of Taxing District Budgets will be available on line at the same time.

Thank you for your trust,
Dale

UPDATE 01/05/2012 - 2:00 PM

Because of recent local newspaper articles, I believe the property taxpayers of Pierce County should have clarification of how their property tax exemption system works.

The Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer's office has recently concluded the processing of certain property tax exemptions recently granted by the Washington State Department of Revenue to MultiCare and Franciscan Health System. The exemptions were granted to several different properties under MultiCare and Franciscan's ownership, and will result in tax refunds of hundreds of thousands dollars for MultiCare and Franciscan Health Systems.

The determination as to whether or not said property tax exemptions should be granted is exclusively made by the Washington State Department of Revenue.

It is important to note that these refunds do not necessarily mean lower revenues for the taxing districts. State law allows those districts to recoup in subsequent years the amounts refunded. This is accomplished by allowing those districts to re-levy for amounts refunded. However, the re-levy of the amounts refunded does not allow districts to exceed their statutory maximum rate.

A property tax exemption granted to one taxpayer is shouldered by all other remaining taxpayers within that district. This occurs because the remaining taxpayers have to make up and pay the amount that would have been paid by the exempted property. When property tax exemptions such as the above are granted, the revenue of the taxing districts is not changed, as the reduced amount of their tax base is made up with a higher levy rates for all remaining property owners.

If you have any questions please contact pcatr@co.pierce.wa.us.

Thank you for your trust,
Dale

UPDATE 11/30/2011 - 2:00 pm

I have submitted the required ''2011 Office of Assessor-Treasurer Achievement Report'' to the Budget and Finance Office.

I am posting said Report to keep my employers, the taxpayers of Pierce County, fully informed.

Thank you for your trust,
Dale

UPDATE 10/28/2011 - 11:00 AM

Today I went before the Pierce County Council with the Assessor-Treasurer's office 2012 budget presentation. Since I work for you, I felt you would be interested in knowing what the Assessor-Treasurer's office is doing in regards to the said budget.

Video Presentation to County Council

UPDATE 10/14/2011 - 11:00 AM

When I took over the Assessor-Treasurer's office in 2009 one of my top priorities for the Assessor-Treasurer's office was to make it user friendly with full transparency. So that every taxpayer could do their business with the Assessor-Treasurer's office with ease. I am proud to say that Assessors-Treasurer's office team is doing that. It appears the good work of the Assessor-Treasurer's office team is being recognized in a story in the November edition of Smart Money Magazine, written by Alyssa Abkowitz, in regards to governments that do an outstanding job of providing property data online. The Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer's office website had approximately 22 million hits in 2010.

I want to invite my employers, the Pierce County taxpayer/citizens to come and visit THEIR Assessor-Treasurer's website, or office, to get their questions answered, experience the transparency and get exceptional service from the caring Assessor-Treasurer's office team.

Thank you for your trust,
Dale

TRUE JUSTICE CAN ONLY PREVAIL, WHEN THE TRUTH IS SOUGHT FOREMOST BY THOSE IN POWER.

You the taxpayers are my employer- please email me at my office regarding any questions you have. (dwasham@co.pierce.wa.us)

Thank you for your trust,

Read prior Dale's Bulletins...