Skagit County assessor cites strong vertical equity in property assessments

Skagit County Assessor Danny Hagan told the Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 14 that the county’s property-assessment program shows measurable progress in achieving vertical equity across property value ranges.

Hagan said the presentation, which drew questions from commissioners, reviewed common appraisal measures and third‑party analyses and showed that Skagit County’s recent ratio studies and statistical measures place the county among the top-performing jurisdictions in Washington.

Hagan said the review focused on “vertical equity and property assessments” and that the office uses sales-ratio studies, the Washington State Department of Revenue reports and tools from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to evaluate proportionality across value tiers. He told the board that, in the Mount Vernon School District analysis cited in his presentation, staff reviewed 12,695 residential parcels and 379 sales — about a 3 percent sales sample — and…