Kennewick votes to increase tax levy

The Kennewick City Council voted 6-1 this week to allow the city to raise its base property tax levy by up to 1 percent in 2016.

The increase will bring in an estimated $118,000 on top of the $11.7 million Kennewick is collecting this year, said Finance Director Dan Legard during this week’s council meeting.

Kennewick expects to have a slightly lower levy rate in 2016 than this year. The city is planning on a levy rate of $2.15 per $1,000 property tax valuation, down from $2.17 per $1,000 this year.

“Because we have sustained growth and higher assessed values, we are generating more revenue,” Councilman Greg Jones said. “The levy rate is down because more people are in town. It’s not substantially less, but it’s not going up.”

Councilman John Trumbo cast the lone vote against the increase. He initially raised concerns that the council might be “banking” the 1 percent, allowing it to raise taxes by a larger amount in future years. But he was told the increase would be used in the coming year.

The city should have raised the levy by no more than a quarter percent, which is the increase listed in the price deflator index that measures inflation, Trumbo said.

“If this were not approved, the property owners would be paying even less,” he said. “These small amounts keep accumulating. ... I have to draw the line somewhere, and I’m staying with 0.251.”

The council voted during a special meeting just before its regularly-scheduled Tuesday workshop.

The owner of a $200,000 house would pay about $430 in city property taxes next year, Legard said. That is a $4 decrease from 2015.

Kennewick’s general operating levy is expected to bring in a total of $12.1 million in 2016, including the 1 percent increase, the highest allowed by the state, and another $294,000 from taxes on new construction.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Kennewick votes to increase tax levy."