Benton, Franklin counties send property tax statements

Benton and Franklin county property owners will be receiving their annual tax bills in coming days.

Benton County property owners will pay a collective $198 million in property taxes in 2016. That’s 3 percent more than last year. Statements will be mailed by mid-February. Franklin County reports it mailed statements Feb. 10.

Benton County Treasurer Duane Davidson said the county certified the total value of all property in Benton County at a little more than $17 billion.

The assessor collects property taxes on behalf of a variety of taxing agencies, including the state, county, school districts, hospital districts, libraries, fire departments, irrigation districts and more.

Of the total, 40 percent goes to schools, 19 percent to the state, 17 percent to cities, 11 percent to the county, 10 percent to miscellaneous taxing jurisdictions and 3 percent to the county road fund.

Franklin County property owners will pay a collective $77 million to support local schools, cities, the county and other functions.

Schools will receive 31 percent of the total to support operations.

Of the balance, 18 percent supports the state schools fund, 18 percent repays school bond debt, 10 percent supports the city of Pasco and the rest is shared by the cities of Connell and Mesa and by small taxing districts, such as the Port of Pasco, fire departments and cemetery districts.

Learn more about how property taxes are collected and allocated in Benton County at bit.ly/BentonTaxes and in Franklin County at bit.ly/FranklinTaxes.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Benton, Franklin counties send property tax statements."