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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Land, mobile homes, city center condos see largest increases in value in Spokane County this year
Jun. 6—Vacant land and mobile homes are hot commodities, according to the latest data from the Spokane County Assessor's Office. Property owners across the county began receiving their property assessments for 2026 taxes this week that serve as the county's estimates as of Jan. 1. They tend to be lower than what a property would fetch on the market, and year-over-year increases and decreases usually vary neighborhood to neighborhood. Spokane County Assessor Tom Konis said that of the nearly 215,000 properties appraised by his office this year, rural lands, manufactured homes and condos at the city's core saw the largest increases in value for residential properties. The value of the average Spokane County home climbed from $428,617 to $435,028 this year, a 1.5% increase following the county's first decrease last year after a decade on the rise. Spokane County home values have more than doubled in the last seven years, growing from an average of $209,659 in 2018 to around $430,000 for the past three years. "The residential real estate market appears to have calmed down in most areas," Konis said in a written statement. "Additionally, land is in high demand and prices continue to rise." Southern Spokane County properties near Spangle, Fairfield, Rockford and south of Cheney saw the biggest increase, with residential properties to the east of U.S. Highway 195 growing in value at an average of 5.9%, and properties to the west of the thoroughfare slightly behind at a rate of 4.5%. The growing allure of rural lands is consistent across the county, Spokane County Deputy Assessor Joe Hollenback said. Vacant land, whether zoned for commercial or residential use, saw an average increase countywide of around 10%, according to Assessor's Office data. Manufactured homes on leased land grew in value by a whopping 13%, which Konis said he believes is because of their affordability. Demand is growing as other entry-level housing becomes more unaffordable. Recent legislation limiting rent increases of the land and mobile home parks the structures sit on could further fuel their popularity. Rounding out the increases this year are the residential units in downtown Spokane and Kendall Yards, which saw an average increase of nearly 9%. That's despite commercial office buildings seeing a decline of 6% and losing tens of millions in assessed value over the past five years, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review. Konis said homeowners can use the assessments they have, or are soon to receive, to get an idea of what their 2026 tax bill will be by using the estimator tool available on the county's website. Launched in 2022, the tax estimator tool provides a ballpark of what homeowners can expect; it is not a comprehensive prediction. That's largely because the assessor's office can't calculate tax bills until late December. County staff can only set levy rates once they know every local government budget and every voter-approved levy and bond issue. The largest chunk of a homeowner's taxes — often more than 50% — goes to schools. About 15% of Spokane County property taxes go to cities and towns. Fire districts get about 12% of the pie, and the county government receives 8%. Smaller pieces go toward road funds, libraries, cemeteries and parks.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Candidate filing week is nearly finished, and many races in Spokane County aren't contested
May 8—Elections are a time for choices, and for many, the only time they learn the names of their local elected leaders, if for no other reason than that boon for local print shops and the bane of everyone else: roadside signs. But for many races — so far — there won't be much of an election, because only one person signed up for the seat. Perhaps voters are fully satisfied with their incumbents, or perhaps only one person had the gumption to run, or else competitors are waiting for the last possible minute to file. Whatever the reason, there are dozens of races with no competition and only a day left in filing week. If no one else files for these seats before 5 p.m. Friday, nothing save a write-in candidate fighting a steep uphill battle will stop the only person who did file from being able to celebrate election victory months before there is one. There's often not much competition for seats on those less-known boards for cemetery and water districts, and this year is no different. As of Thursday evening, there is no more than one candidate for all of these races, including the Milan, Moran and West Greenwood cemetery districts, and the Four Lakes, Irvin and Spokane County water districts. And while school board races have become increasingly contested in recent years, many districts in Spokane County also don't have a single competitive race. There is only one candidate for each of the races this year in the school districts of East Valley, Deer Park, Great Northern, Freeman, Medical Lake, Newport, Nine Mile Falls, Orchard Prairie, Reardan-Edwall, Tekoa, West Valley and, perhaps surprisingly, the Spokane School District. City Council and mayoral races are often competitive, especially in larger jurisdictions — of the four races for Spokane Valley City Council and three for Spokane City Council this year, every one has at least two candidates. But that's not the case for many of the county's other municipalities. It seems there's job security this year for elected officials in Fairfield, Latah, Rockford, Spangle and Waverly, which all have seats up for election but do not have a single competitive race. Other cities come close to a full slate of uncontested races, with only a single exception. There are three council races up this year in Liberty Lake, but only position No. 6 is thus far contested, between Judie Schumacher and Arlene Fisher. Deer Park's City Council has four seats up for election this year, as is the city's mayoral seat, but again, only council position No. 6 has attracted two candidates, Tony Bailey and Robert Whaley. Medical Lake has four council positions that are uncontested, though former Medical Lake Mayor John Higgins has thrown his hat in the race against incumbent Mayor Terri Cooper. Countywide races, having the most potential voters and also the most potential candidates, are also often quite competitive. Longtime deputy county treasurer Mike Volz was appointed to the county treasurer position in February, filling a seat vacated by now-U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner. As such, he has to run for election this year to fill the rest of Baumgartner's term, which runs through 2026. Whether because of the complicated duties of the gig, out of respect for the experienced incumbent who was the top unelected official in the office for several years, or simply because someone is waiting to the last minute to file, no one has filed to run against Volz as of Thursday.
