Report says land values are booming in rural areas

By GEORGE FOSTER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

King County communities with booming land values are no longer the toniersuburbs that ring Lake Washington. Now the action is farther out in thesticks, according to the county assessor's tabulations.

The former coal mining town of Black Diamond, for instance, entered thewinner's circle this year with the county's highest jump in assessed valuation- 26 percent from 1994 to 1995. Carnation, still known for its dairy herds,was second with an increase of 15.4 percent.

"Growth is moving east and southeast of established urban areas,"assessor Scott Noble said yesterday. "We are seeing land values increasing asyou move in that direction."

Noble's 1995 assessment certification, which puts the county's total landvalue at $121.7 billion, went before the Metropolitan King County Councilyesterday. The council needed that certification before it could approveraising the $1.2 billion in taxes required to fund cities, county governmentand bonded indebtedness.

The movement of people to the farther reaches of the county flies in theface of growth-management policies adopted this year by the county and itscommunities. Those policies emphasize a population shift to the urban areasand greater protection of rural areas.

However, the 1995 valuation report is based on housing sales anddevelopment over 1992 and 1993, before the policies were adopted.

The overall change in the total valuation from 1994 to 1995 is a mere 2.9percent, down from recent years. In wealthier suburbs, such as Yarrow Point,Hunts Point and Clyde Hill, tax roll valuations were either flat or showed adecrease.

Noble said that's the result of both a stable housing market and "a lot ofcorrection to the mistakes of past years. The way land was valued in somecases was overstated."

In rural communities, recent development was a factor in total land valuesincreasing.

"What has happened in Black Diamond is three or four major (residential)developments (have gone in)," city clerk Chris Kandior said. Most were builtin 1993, she said.

Noble said "new development . . . does give a skewed picture of increased(assessed valuation.)."

Noble would like to see a change in the state law that says land should bevalued at its highest and best use. That, he said, "contributes to urbansprawl."

"I prefer a present-use evaluation," he said. "We must be very carefulwe don't overstate the case."

King County valuations

Examples of fluctuations in assessed land values across King County, inmillions of dollars:

                                           Percent                   1994         1995       changeAuburn           $2,431       $2,662       +9.48

Bellevue         10,279       10,742       +4.50

Bl. Diamond          63           79      +26.09

Carnation            61           71      +15.44

Clyde Hill          474          474       +0.11

Des Moines          806          900      +11.72

Duvall              162          181      +11.72

Enumclaw            430          462      +11.58

Hunts Point         304          288       -5.34

Issaquah            777          872      +13.10

Kirkland          3,417        3,538       +3.54

North Bend          226          251      +11.09

Redmond           3,872        4,060       +4.85

Seattle          41,649       42,300       +1.56

Woodinville         801          847       +5.76

Yarrow Point        250          227       -9.26