Notices of value for 2013 were mailed in mid-November to 11,078 San Juan County property owners representing a total of 14,020 parcels.

Notices were not mailed for 4,000 parcels whose values did not change since 2012.

This is the second year for annual valuations in San Juan County, so changes in valuation are significantly less than what was seen in prior years when they were reappraised on a three- to four-year cycle.

County wide, values have dropped by 0.8 percent since 2012.  The largest average change in value was in the Town of Friday Harbor, which decreased by 4.9 percent. The overall decrease in value for San Juan Island was 2.1 percent.

Shaw, Lopez and Orcas Islands showed minor increases in assessed values of 1.7 percent, 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Under the new system of annual valuations, all properties are re-assessed every year at market value, creating improved fairness, uniformity and equity county wide and eliminating large increases (or decreases) in assessed values that sometimes resulted from a multi-year cycle.

If taxpayers have questions about the valuations reflected on their Notices of Value, contact the Assessor’s Office at 378-2172.

To see a chart of value changes by service district, go to sanjuanco.com/news/NewsRelease.aspx?nr=63.