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Property-tax appeal forces Thurston County refund; Tumwater share roughly $450,000, staff says
Summary
A property-tax valuation appeal for a building owned by a private investor group resulted in a multi-year refund from Thurston County; Tumwater staff told the committee the city and TMPD share totals about $450,000 and that the city wrote an interim check of about $271,000 reducing July collections.
The committee heard details about a recent property-tax valuation appeal that Thurston County found in favor of the taxpayer, resulting in a retroactive refund that affects Tumwater's 2026 collections. Troy, the finance director, described the case as "pretty unusual" in his five years with the city and said the refund stretches back to 2023.
Troy said the refund will be handled administratively and the city has the option of applying the amount against the 2027 levy when the property-tax ordinance is set this fall. "So our share of that, for both this the city and the TMPD is about $450,000," Troy said. He added the city already issued a check for "about $271,000," which reduced July receipts. Council members asked how an appeal can go back multiple years; Troy said he was not fully familiar with all appeal rules but that county procedure allows multi-year adjustments.
Why this matters: a multi-year refund of this size is uncommon and changes the timing of revenue available for operating needs; staff noted the option to reclaim the refunded amount when calculating next year's levy and will reflect the adjustment in upcoming budget materials.
