How much of downtown Tacoma is exempt from property taxes?
The City Manager’s report to council this week included the answer to the question, how much of downtown Tacoma is exempt from property taxes? The response was prepared following inquiries by Councilmembers. The answer … more than we would’ve guessed. Here’s a map and category breakdown of the tax exempt parcels.
We don’t see any quick budget-fixing policy changes in this data. It is important to have social services centrally located and easily accessible for individuals with mobility issues or needing to use public transportation. It’s also important that the city be able to leverage its downtown space to its best development and financial advantage.
According to the memo, the City’s economic development department will be preparing specific questions and policy issues for discussion by the Council.
What questions do you want the Council to consider?
Download the full size map via this link
Filed under: General
19 comments
F fredo March 30, 2012
Over half the property in DT Tacoma is OFF the tax rolls. No wonder the property taxes in this area are astronomical.
But wait…I thought “Tacoma Means Business?”
R RR Anderson March 30, 2012
tax the mega-churches!
E Erik B. March 30, 2012
The City of Tacoma should review and sell off some of the blighted unused parcels it has been hoarding for years and place them on the tax rolls so some more life and taxes might result.
P Peter Peter March 30, 2012
@Erik – I like the idea. The problem is keeping the land from being sold to … see above table. Who else is buying?
N NEAL March 30, 2012
What percentage of that which is taxed is occupied by business now?
The council should look at the rest of the city as well.
E Erik B, March 30, 2012
“The problem is keeping the land from being sold to … see above table. Who else is buying?”
The City could control who they sell to…with an RFP. If they placed parcels on the market slowly, the private market could start absorbing them. Anything is better than the situation now.
The tax base is incredibly narrow as Exit133 points out. Tacoma cannot keep rasing taxes on a smaller and smaller tax base.
The “non-profits” are using huge amount of the city resources and giving no taxes back and creating an unsustainable condition.
J JOHNESHERMAN March 30, 2012
Now it’s time to extend this survey to encompass the entire tide flats industrial areas. The Tacoma Taxpayers are always interested who supports whom?
F fredo March 30, 2012
Tacoma City Strategy:
Attract white collar family wage businesses to the DT area and place the social service providers down there too so the white collar workers can step over the bodies of inebriates on their way to work.
HAHAHAHA
“Tacoma Means Business”
A Anders Ibsen March 30, 2012
Absolutely agree that the first place to start is the 68 city-owned parcels that are vacant. Anything is better than letting that land go to waste. Evaluating the other city-owned and TPU-owned land should then follow.
A couple more interesting figures:
Of the 810 tax-exempt downtown parcels…
- 122 parcels (15%) are parking lots. Over half of these are for hospitals (St. Joe’s and Tacoma General).
- 159 parcels (19.6%) are simply vacant and undeveloped. Almost half of that is city-owned (68 parcels).
- 122 parcels (15%) are medical, which is overwhelmingly Multicare/Franciscan and mostly parking lots.
Seeing as the State Supreme Court recently ruled that non-profit hospitals now pay close to nothing in property taxes, it may be time to re-consider the Angelou Economics study’s emphasis on growing the medical sector much further.
F fredo March 30, 2012
Agree with RR. The churches should pay something. This was an idea advanced by the City Manager Eric Anderson about 10 years ago. Nobody wants to infringe on peoples ability to worship but these congregations use fire/ambulance/police/social services just like other property owners.
J jesse March 30, 2012
The city owns 68 vacant land parcels? For what? THEY are the vacant land hoarders? I always thought it was rich speculators ruining downtown… turns out its city hall? I am totally beside myself here! Wow!
M Mike Lonergan March 30, 2012
Just a reality check: over half of the City-owned property is the T-Dome and Convention Center; another fourth are City street dept.shops, City Hall and Foss esplanade and Urban Waters. Don’t forget Pantages and Rialto, so those 68 vacant parcels are only 20% of City land downtown—and most of that is the former TPD HQ site, which will be put to use in time, probably UWT-related development.
J jd March 31, 2012
A couple of thoughts:
1)“Over half the property in DT Tacoma ia OFF the tax rolls”. Sounds impressive until you realize what a small percentage of the city that number represents.
2)While I love the idea of taxing churches, how many “mega-churches” are in this area?
3-6)Good ideas
7)While the workers on the Tideflats are paying into their communities, the businesses of the the Tideflats seem to have been getting by without paying their fair share. They are recipients of the same city services that you and I receive.
8)“Attract white collar…blah, blah, blah,…bodies of inebriates on their way to work”. Blork, Dorf! Now back to the intelligent conversation:
9)Wow! I’d always assumed that the ‘not for profits’ get a screaming deal, I had no ideas what the numbers were. 15% of the space is parking? That is tax exempt? How much money do they make off of these parking spaces?
10)As much as I hate to admit that I agree with Fredo, if you are using city services that everyone else is paying for, you have to pay for those services, regardless of the phone number of the building from which you are calling.
11)Apparently I am a slum lord! I too, am beside myself/selves.
12) Well put. I refer back to my first response in this rebuttal . It’s Downtown Tacoma; there will be properties like those mentioned in comment 12. And whether you like it or not, we will have facilities and properties for the homeless, the mentally ill, the arts, etc.
F fredo March 31, 2012
Maybe Tacoma could look at what real cities do when they want urban renewel. In NYC Mayor Giuliani cleaned crime and grime out of Times square so it would be inviting to the public. He didn’t then load up the area with social service providers. This actually worked!
J Jake March 31, 2012
The map doesn’t seem very accurate.
Someone should be embarrassed that they presented this map to the city manager and council with a lot of wrong information.
Properties listed on the map as multi-family tax exempt but are not:
1902 Yakima Ave Condos
1919 S. I Street Condos
1953 S. I Street Condos
440 St Helens Condos
Walker North Parking Lot
210 Broadway Condos
Sky Terrace Condos
201 Broadway Condos
Wright Park Condos
Properties that are multi-family tax exempt but not listed on the map:
23rd & I Street Condos
McCarver Village
Vue25 Apartments
Bella View Townhomes
Element20 Townhomes
Metro City Townhomes
Gas Lamp Terrace Townhomes
Lexington Square Townhomes
Triangle Townhomes
Bella on Broadway Apartments
One St Helens Apartments
Stillwater Apartments
Ninth Street Flats
Villagio Apartments
MidTown Lofts
J Jake March 31, 2012
A few more that are listed as multi-family tax exempt but are not:
Stadium Point Condos
1 Stadium Way Condos
I am sure I am missing others..
J Jake March 31, 2012
Metropolitan Apartments Phase I & II not listed on map as multi-family tax exempt but they are…..
J Jesse April 1, 2012
“159 parcels (19.6%) are simply vacant and undeveloped. Almost half of that is city-owned (68 parcels).” — Anders Ibsen
“11) Apparently I am a slum lord! I too, am beside myself/selves.” — jd (About 68 parcels being owned by the city)
If you do own a lot of vacant land parcels in an urban setting that are collecting nothing but blight, running down your neighbors property values, and creating dead areas, than yes, you are a helping to create slums. Being a bad neighbor has everything to do with what society expects from you and your property. The city isn’t magically excluded from this.
M Mac April 2, 2012
So is that the small business incubator which is highlighted in yellow along E. 26th? They got millions in grants free money from the City of Tacoma then revised their property to claim the units as condominiums and then ask top dollar and get tax exemption status. Sounds like another scam against Tacoma taxpayers. Enough of giving away money to so called non-profits who don’t pay a dime in property taxes.