I may as well have been called a flat-out liar for saying Marysville had some of the lowest property taxes in Snohomish County during the recent school levy election.
Well, here’s proof. We rank 16th out of 22, and we are the largest city near the bottom, according to the county.
Average tax bill
Woodway $14,189.43
Mill Creek $6,372.37
Edmonds $5,893,36
Brier $5,622.19
Bothell $5,603.95
Unincorporated $4,785.58
Mukilteo $4,758.27
Snohomish County $4,735.83
Snohomish $4,518.62
Lynnwood $4,317.59
Lake Stevens $4,138.02
Mountlake Terrace $4,029.35
Everett $3,987.19
Stanwood $3,774,70.
Monroe $3,753.56
Marysville $3,719.75
Granite Falls $3,390.85
Arlington $2,971.87
Sultan $2,677.33
Gold Bar $2,103.72
Darrington $1,620.92
Index $1,542.35
Even if we would have passed the levy, add $720 to our average amount, and we still would have been 10th at $4,439.75 – not bad for the second-largest city in the county.
Other misinformation spread far and wide regarding the recent school building levy.
•Jails are not necessarily favored over schools. They have different funding sources. Laws would need to change to spend sales tax money on schools. If you don’t want just property taxes to pay for schools, change the laws.
•Schools are horrible, why vote for them? If you think they are that bad, maybe not supporting them financially is a reason. It certainly isn’t fair to pay Marysville taxes and send your kids to school in Lakewood, Arlington or Lake Stevens.
•Laws require us to grow. If you want no-growth, change the laws.
•Lottery money does go to schools, but not building them.
•Homes go up in value almost all of the time. So taxes often do, too. That’s just a fact.
•It was not a good time to discuss school boundaries. The district admits that. And now that they’ve delayed a decision on boundaries it really looks like that was a bad move. Not saying the levy would have passed, but it would have been closer.
•The school district works with unions so not everything can be done with donated work or materials.
•Schools are in disrepair because they are old despite thousands of dollars being spent on maintenance over the years. That’s like saying you never have to replace your home or car when they get too old.