Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personal Property Tax Writeoff topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pierce County Council approves $57,973 write-off of uncollectible personal property taxes
Summary
Council adopted Ordinance O2025-502 to cancel $57,973 in business and mobile-home personal property taxes, citing RCW 84.56.240; fiscal impact to county general fund is about $4,261.
The Pierce County Council voted unanimously on Feb. 11 to adopt Ordinance O2025-502, authorizing the cancellation of $57,973 in uncollectible personal property taxes levied between 2010 and 2024.
Paul Bokey, council staff, told the council the total being written off includes $34,339 in business personal property taxes and $23,634 in mobile-home taxes. Bokey said the director of finance submitted a report under state law (RCW 84.56.240) listing personal property taxes deemed uncollectible; the write-off is an annual process that varies year-to-year with business conditions.
Katie Petrozoff, treasury manager in the finance department, described staff efforts to collect taxes and said field agents verify mobile-home status in person when feasible. Bokey said the largest prior write-off was in 2017 when roughly $21.2 million was written off due to the Great Recession.
Fiscal impact: The ordinance’s fiscal-note figures to the county are small: approximately $4,261 to the general fund and $2,557 to the county road fund; the remainder of the write-off is distributed across the state and local junior taxing districts, Bokey said. The ordinance received a due-pass recommendation from the Rules and Operations Committee on Feb. 3.
Public comment: No public testimony was received during the ordinance’s public hearing.
Vote: Vice Chair Herrera moved approval of O2025-502; the council adopted the ordinance on a 7-0 roll-call vote (Council member Ayala — aye; Council member Yambe — aye; Council member Herrera — aye; Council member Morrell — aye; Council member Kuver — aye; Council member Denson — aye; Chair Hitchen — aye).
The treasury manager thanked field agents for verification work and offered to answer council questions about the write-off process and collection efforts.
