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Pierce County council extends window for refunds tied to manifest property-description errors to five years
Summary
Pierce County will allow refunds or tax reductions for manifest property-description errors up to five years after the payment due date, after the council amended county code to extend the current three-year filing window for that specific ground.
The Pierce County Council voted to amend county code to allow the Assessor-Treasurer to process refund or reduction requests arising from manifest errors in property descriptions up to five years after the payment due date, extending the current three-year filing window for that specific ground.
Ms. Long, council staff, briefed the council that state statute limits refunds and reductions for a variety of reasons but that a 2019 change (referenced in the staff report) allows a county legislative authority to permit refunds beyond three years specifically for refunds that arise from manifest errors in property description. She explained manifest errors as mistakes in stated property attributes — for example, square footage or room counts — that can lead to incorrect valuations and taxes.
The staff report included historical value adjustments for 2020–2024 and an estimate that the county’s refunded tax related to manifest-error adjustments averaged about $300,000 per year. The staff estimated that allowing two additional years (from three to five) could increase refunded taxes attributable to manifest-error adjustments to about $600,000 for the affected period, assuming similar rates of adjustment.
Assessor-Treasurer Campbell participated in the meeting remotely and answered committee questions during Rules and Operations; Ms. Long and the assessor’s office had worked on the proposal since late in the prior year. Committee members discussed administrative impact; staff said processing the additional two years of requests would require additional staff time but was not expected to require new full-time positions.
Council member Krueger moved the ordinance, which received a due-pass recommendation from the Rules and Operations Committee and was adopted by the full council by roll call vote, 6 ayes and 0 nays.
The ordinance removes broader technical revisions from the current draft at the assessor’s request; the assessor indicated his office plans a more comprehensive policy review and may return with additional code revisions later.
