Property taxes do not have a set rate like income or sales taxes. With property taxes, taxing jurisdictions determine the dollar amount to raise from property taxes. This is called the "levy." The levy is divided by the total value of the tax base of the taxing jurisdiction to arrive at a tax rate. The tax rate is multiplied by the value of each individual parcel to determine each parcel’s share of the property tax liability. It is possible that taxes may go up even if values went down. The property tax on an individual parcel is affected by a number of factors including:
- Spending decisions (levy) of each taxing jurisdiction.
- Change in value (tax base) of a taxing jurisdiction.
- Change in your parcel’s value.
- How does the value change on your parcel compare to the value change on other parcels, did it go up or down more or less than average?
Want to know if the tax change on a property is generally what other taxpayers are experiencing? This document has information on property taxes in Washington County. This includes information such as counts of parcels by range of tax increase/decrease, and maps of the percentage change in taxes.
Looking for an estimate of what taxes would be if property was homesteaded? This interactive calculator allows you to enter the value of the property and select the location in the county and will provide an estimate of property taxes if the property is homestead vs. non-homestead.