![spokane county assessor property tax spokane county assessor property tax](https://thumb.spokesman.com/axwxgUPa3jKF563hTJrD6Pbi9ZU=/2500x1875/smart/media.spokesman.com/photos/2020/03/17/prop-taxes-go-up-19p4_FytgB5B.jpg)
![spokane county assessor property tax spokane county assessor property tax](https://static.spokanecity.org/photos/2018/12/28/breean-beggs/3x4/medium/breean-beggs.jpg)
His main objection: Those steep penalties end up funding an important part of the county's already-stressed budget. "It rewards people that don't pay their property taxes, and it punishes people who do."
![spokane county assessor property tax spokane county assessor property tax](https://www.spokanejournal.com/?action=img&p=news&src=827f2fccdc01a126930d853f2b6240ec.jpg)
"It's a bad piece of legislation," French says. S pokane County Commissioner Al French, however, sees the legislation as a misguided piece of populism. "It seems that the penal nature of the property tax scheme in Washington unfairly targets the most destitute," he said. "Those homeowners who get deep into the foreclosure process are the most vulnerable among us," Joseph Jordan, supervising attorney for foreclosures at the Northwest Justice Project, said at a legislative hearing last year.Īnd while exceptions can be made in some circumstances like a death in the family, Jordan argued that the vulnerable people often don't learn of them until they're already deep in the hole. Rob Chase - another former Spokane County treasurer - champion reducing the penalties for missing the tax deadline, so do nonprofits like the Northwest Justice Project that try to save homeowners from foreclosure. While Republicans like Volz, Baumgartner and Rep. "It's wrong for everybody else, but it's OK for property taxes," Volz says. But when it comes to unpaid property taxes, the law makes an exception. In fact, in most circumstances, charging 23 percent annual interest rates is flat-out illegal in Washington state, Volz notes.