{"id":1918,"date":"2026-02-25T11:43:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wallawallatrends.org\/newsletter\/?page_id=1918"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:43:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:43:56","slug":"feb26_main3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wallawallatrends.org\/newsletter\/feb26_main3\/","title":{"rendered":"Walla Walla County\u2019s Property Tax Roll Has Climbed Recently, Faster than Personal Income"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Dr. Patrick Jones<\/strong><\/p>

There is nothing more certain that death and taxes. But what about the certainty that taxes always go up? The graph of the property tax roll of all\u00a0jurisdictions\u00a0in Walla Walla County would certainly lend credence to the second claim. That is,\u00a0except for\u00a0pandemic outbreak year 2020,\u00a0when\u00a0property taxes\u00a0actually declined\u00a0in the county.\u00a0Note that this is not the average property tax\u00a0paid\u00a0a resident, but total\u00a0property tax raised from all sources \u2013 residential, commercial,\u00a0industrial\u00a0and agricultural.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Property taxes\u00a0are certainly important to the \u201ccollectors\u201d \u2013 either the state or local governments.\u00a0The indicator on\u00a0<\/span>the total property tax roll<\/span><\/a>\u00a0shows recent history to be one of the tax\u00a0roll\u00a0increasing year after year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But due to state law, the maximum the overall\u00a0<\/span>existing<\/span><\/i>\u00a0property tax base can increase annually is 1%, in most cases. The exception is a \u201clevy\u00a0lid\u00a0lift,\u201d a decision by voters to exceed the 1% rule.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Another, and undoubtedly the more common way for the property tax base to expand, is through new construction or improvements of existing buildings. Typically, increases in the tax roll then occur due to an increase in the tax base, or stock of real property, and not a percentage rate jump.<\/span><\/p>

And how has the\u00a0total\u00a0tax roll in the county\u00a0moved over the last few years? Over the pandemic\u00a0and post-pandemic\u00a0period 2019-2024, by about 33%\u00a0cumulatively. Over the decade 2015-2024, by about 39%\u00a0cumulatively. These\u00a0totals\u00a0compute to\u00a0annual increases\u00a0far greater than\u00a01%, assuming the elected officials opted to even take a 1% total increase.\u00a0Consequently, it seems clear that\u00a0the\u00a0cumulative\u00a0increase clearly\u00a0represents\u00a0an economy that\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0stagnant but\u00a0investing in\u00a0new structures or\u00a0modifying\u00a0existing ones.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

It is perhaps more interesting for viewers to know what the per person tax roll computes to. As the graph shows, in 2024 it was about $1,544 in the county. This is much lower than the state-wide average of $2,237. For every year the measure tracks, the per capita tax roll here is much lower than throughout the state. Clearly, residents here deal with a relatively lower tax roll\u00a0\u00a0than their compatriots in other counties. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Over the pandemic and post-pandemic period, the\u00a0<\/span>per capita<\/span><\/i> property tax take here climbed a little less, at 30%, than the overall property tax take. This doesn\u2019t indicate, however, that residents had paid, on a cumulative basis, more property taxes. Rather, it indicates that the tax base has grown a bit faster than population, and very likely due to commercial and industrial new construction or improvements. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Interestingly, the increase state-wide over the same period, 2019-2024, was just about the same, on a per capita basis. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

To put the growth of the tax base into some perspective, it is helpful to juxtapose against the growth of the economy.\u00a0This can be done by examining\u00a0the growth in\u00a0<\/span>personal income<\/span><\/a> over the same period. On a per capita basis, net of the Penitentiary population, Walla Walla County personal income rose by a cumulative 23 % over the 2019-2024 period. Since there was some, but not a lot, of growth in population in the county over the same period, it\u2019s not surprising that total<\/em> personal income grew a bit faster, at 27% over these years. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

So\u00a0the property tax roll increased faster, at 33%, than personal income expanded, whether per capita or total.\u00a0There is nothing in economics that\u00a0states\u00a0that personal income growth must\u00a0match strides with\u00a0property tax\u00a0growth, so we\u00a0shouldn\u2019t\u00a0make too much of it.\u00a0For example, in an \u201casset-light\u201d\u00a0economy (think\u00a0of\u00a0one with\u00a0a concentration of\u00a0software industries)\u00a0where much of the economy\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0depend on buildings,\u00a0one might see the reverse:\u00a0 personal\u00a0income\u00a0grows faster than the property tax base.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The\u00a0higher rate of\u00a0the\u00a0property tax roll,\u00a0even if close\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0growth rate of total personal income,\u00a0tells me that Walla Walla\u00a0County\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0depend\u00a0too much on asset-light industries.\u00a0Buildings matter here.\u00a0How\u00a0might\u00a0the county bolster its property tax roll?\u00a0The announced projects\u00a0for\u00a0the western part of the county will\u00a0help.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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