Property owners are opening their tax bill statements and many are not happy. The property tax for median-valued home in Seattle of $597,000 it will pay about $825 more than last year. It's even more costly in Bellevue, where a median-valued home is about $791,000, so they will end up paying about $1,300 more than last year. According to the Seattle Times, it all depends on where you live. There's plenty of blame to go around. State, county, and city government officials blame the Supreme Court’s McCleary decision requiring full funding of schools. Other's blame poor money management decisions by lawmakers going back decades. Ultimately homeowners will still have to pay a lot more for the privilege of owning a home here in the Seattle area.
Sadly, this is may affect home affordability for low-income residents the most. Landlords are likely to pass this and other cost-of-ownership increases through rent increases directly to the tenants.