Pierce County property tax bills are in the mail. Here’s what to expect for 2023

Most Pierce County property owners can expect to see an increase in their property taxes this year, according to the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Office.

It could have been worse.

While property values rose in 2022, statutory limits on property-tax rates reduced the tax rate by over a dollar in nearly every taxing district, according to Assessor-Treasurer Mike Lonergan.

“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,” Lonergan said in a Monday news release.

Across the county, property taxes billed in 2023 total $1.85 billion, the news release states, a 5.1% increase over 2022. The average 2023 tax bill countywide is $5,579.

Property taxes pay for schools, city and county government functions, parks, libraries, roads, Sound Transit, flood control and the Port of Tacoma. Additional fees might be included for conservation, noxious weed control and surface water treatment.

Areas where voters approved new levies or bonds will see the most significant tax increases in 2023.

Voters approved 17 new school levies in 10 school districts last year, and voters in five fire districts approved multi-year levy lid lifts or renewed EMS levies, according to the Assessor-Treasurer Office.

State and local levies for schools make up about 60% of all property taxes in Pierce County. Cities and county funding makes up about 19.6%, and fire and emergency districts make up 11.8% of Pierce County’s property tax.

Tax payments are due in two halves, by May 1 and Oct. 31.