Board of Equalization

Board of Equalization Hearings will begin on October 3, 2023. Hearing Dates and Times will be sent to the mailing address on your appeal submission.

The Island County Board of Equalization (BOE) is independent of the Assessor's Office. The BOE is comprised of Island County residents appointed by the Island County Board of Commissioners. These five members and two alternates serve three-year terms with a goal to provide an impartial hearing, protect each party's due process rights and provide a fair decision. 

Board members hear appeals from Island County taxpayers in response to decisions made by the Island County Assessor's Office. Appeals can be for Real Property Valuation, Personal Property Valuation and Current Use or Senior/Disabled Exemption Determination. The BOE does not determine the amount of taxes owed by a person or entity.

By law, the Assessor's valuation of your property is presumed to be correct. That presumption may be overcome only by the presentation of clear, cogent, and convincing evidence, which is evidence showing that it is highly probable that the Assessor made an error. To prove your case, you must present sales of properties that are like yours. The sales should be as close to the assessment date as possible. These sales should be no older than five years before the assessment date and must not occur after the assessment date.

The Three Years to Formulate Taxes Due

BOESaletoTaxCalc

When does the BOE meet?

The regular session of the BOE starts 14 days after the Assessor's Office certifies the Assessment Rolls and continues for 28 days. The Board will meet three times during this period. With the permission of the Island Board of Commissioners the BOE will resume session for hearings.

When can, Who can and Where can an appeal be filed?

Appeals must be submitted to the BOE within 30 days of the mailing date of the Assessor's Office decision or Notice of Value in question. The taxpayer, or entity whose name appears on the assessment rolls, or their duly authorized agent may file an appeal. Taxpayers who believe the assessed value of their property exceeds its fair market value may file a petition form to appeal their valuation.

Petitions must either be postmarked, emailed or hand delivered to the Board of Equalization office within 30 calendar days of the mailing date printed on the value notice (or other decision).

Submissions of completed petitions can be:

Appeals in response to the June 9, 2023 Assessor Valuations must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. July 10, 2023

  • Mailed to: Island County Board of Equalization, 1 NE 7th St., Coupeville, WA 98239
  • Emailed to: BOE@islandcountywa.gov
  • Delivered in Person: 1 NE 7th Street Ste 200, Coupeville, WA 98239

Questions may be directed to the Clerk of the Board at 360-679-7379 or BOE@islandcountywa.gov

Please be advised that per RCW 42.56 all information submitted to the Board of Equalization is subject to Public Record Disclosure.

Forms

What happens after submitting the petition?

After submission of a complete petition to the BOE you will receive a response from the Assessor's Office. You may choose to respond to the Assessor if you would like. Submission of all evidence must be made 21 business days prior to the scheduled hearing to both the Assessor's Office and the BOE. Occasionally, the Assessor's Office may reach out to inquire if you would agree to an adjustment in the valuation of your property or other determination. This is called a Stipulation and is one way to settle outside of a hearing. Approximately 50 days prior to the hearing the Notice of Hearing will be mailed to the address on record for the Petitioner. The BOE members receive and review all evidence from both parties prior to the hearing. Be advised that the decision to allow late submission of evidence is the sole decision of the Board. If you no longer wish to continue with your appeal, please contact the BOE Clerk to withdraw your appeal. 

The clerk can be reached at 360-679-7379 or by emailing to BOE@islandcountywa.gov.

What happens during the hearing?

Your hearing will be held remotely over the phone. This allows greater flexibility for petitioners and BOE members attending hearings. Recording of the hearing will start and the opening statement will be read onto the record. Both parties will be sworn in, and the petitioner will be given 10 minutes to present their evidence. The Assessor's representative will then be given 5 minutes to present their evidence. Afterwards board members may ask questions about the evidence provided. Both parties will be able to provide rebuttal evidence starting with the petitioner. If there are no further questions or statements by the parties or the BOE, the public portion of the hearing is closed, and the recording stopped. The board members then go into a closed session to deliberate on the hearing. After deliberation is complete the board will go back on record to make their decision. A majority vote of the board members in attendance during the hearing is needed to overcome the presumption of correctness state law grants to the Assessor's Office. The board's decision will be sent to the petitioner and Assessor's Office within 14 days.