New members appointed to property value appeals board

A full slate of new members were appointed Tuesday to Grays Harbor County’s Board of Equalization, tasked with making decisions on appeals from property owners about their assessed values.

The Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners, which until Tuesday also served as the Board of Equalization, decided earlier this year to pass the duty to three at-large members of the community, which is the conventional model statewide. Each commissioner selected one representative, a process that took months of searching for interested candidates.

In District 2, Commissioner Kevin Pine appointed the man he bested in the 2020 election, Randy Ross. Ross was elected to the commission in 2016 and began serving on the Board of Equalization in 2018 when the county switched to the commissioner-led model.

The other two board members have real estate expertise. District 1 appointee Liz Marriott is a Realtor of 18 years who works in Grays Harbor, Lewis and Thurston counties, often in Ocean Shores.

Susan Ancich, the appointee for District 3, is owner and founder of West Coast Public Adjusters, a company that provides property valuation services for insurance purposes.

“It’s a well-rounded group,” said District 3 County Commissioner Vickie Raines.

The appointments come as the number of property assessment appeals is higher this year than normal, some carrying big implications for the county.

For assessments of Jan. 1, 2022 values (property taxes paid in 2023), 260 property owners filed appeals, 45 of which will require a hearing from the Board of Equalization to be settled. The previous year about 60 property owners objected to assessments, and only a few of those cases went before the board.

Grays Harbor County has more than 64,000 property parcels. Property owners can appeal determinations about property value, land classifications, tax exemptions, and historic or destroyed property, among others.

Grays Harbor County Assessor Dan Lindgren attributed the bump in cases to a rise in assessed values across the county. He said some property owners objected to their assessments under the misconception it would raise their tax rates, but dropped the case when the assessor’s office explained the reasoning behind the valuation.

In other instances, the assessor’s office agrees to adjust an assessed value based on new information. The assessor’s office only physically visits each property in the county once every six years. In all other years, values are set based on market trends, meaning the office is sometimes unaware of physical changes to properties.

Most disputes are settled before reaching the Board of Equalization in conversation between property owners and the assessor’s office.

“We really work hard with taxpayers ahead of time before it goes to a hearing to make sure we’ve heard all their concerns and we understand where they’re coming from,” Lindgren said.

But some cases remain contentious. Those — like the 45 this year — are sent to the board of equalization, which is governed by state law and intended to act as an impartial judge of a property value appeal.

That impartiality — or the public’s perception of it — is a major reason commissioners decided to hand judicial responsibility to outsiders. One of the commissioners’ primary duties is to decide on a budget funded in large part by property taxes directly linked to assessed values. Commissioners said they wanted to eliminate the appearance of a potential conflict of interest and make sure the public gets a fair shake.

“The board needs to be someone who can be impartial and give the appearance of fairness,” Raines said. “The way we were doing it before with the commissioners serving that capacity really doesn’t give that appearance.”

The equalization board will hear dozens of appeals before the end of this year that could impact the county, including the largest case the board has ever seen.

Grays Harbor Energy, which operates a natural gas power plant at the Satsop Business Park, appealed its 2022 property assessment after Washington state’s Climate Commitment Act forced it to purchase millions of dollars in carbon credits to offset emissions. The company sued the state Department of Ecology last year claiming the law is unconstitutional.

Grays Harbor Energy also claims its carbon credit expenditures have decreased its assessed value. Lindgren said the assessor’s office is currently in conversation with the company, which is the largest property taxpayer in the county, according to Lindgren, and was assessed at $2.7 million of property value in 2023.

Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.