Citizens Active in Local Government
Tom Konis, Spokane Tax Collector is on Facebook.
Did you know that the Board Members of the Spokane Tax Assessor are Realtors/and or/Brokers except for one who is a Lawyer specializing in Real Estate? Does this look like a Conflict-Of-Interest to you? We have Realtors appraising the value of our property at inflated values that in turn will create an increase in the amount of their commission when they sell your place. Sounds like insider trading to me.
The Spokane County Tax Assessor is Tom Konis. It was surprising to find that Konis is listed in our Voter’s Pamphlet as running Unopposed. Is this a good idea for a man who has made over 1-1/2 million dollars in this assessor’s office all ready to be handed the position for the next 4 years without any effort having to be put forth?
He was an appraiser since 1993 (26 years), assessing residential property values in Spokane County. A residential appraiser for 26 years, at $50,884.08 works out to wages in the neighborhood of $1,322,986.08. For 3 years he has been the Spokane County Assessor at a wage of $114,351.57 so, Tom Konis has received a total of $343,054.71 so far in that position. We should get someone to be a write-in candidate to at least make the election have some semblance of fairness.
Wages for our elected officials are listed here.
Property Taxes Raised!
After attending the tax collector town hall meeting in Spokane, we walked back to the parking lot. There was a sense of overwhelming apathy surrounding us. The huge increase in property and land values in our property tax notices inspired increased public attendance. Tax increases upwards of 40% in 2022! Almost everyone’s questions were centered on this insane increase.
Sadly, many of us that were in attendance are in fear of losing our homes. Excessive tax increase sets up taxpayers on a fixed income for failure. Many others that were there, have had unprecedented levels of economic upheaval during the past three years, making this also true for them.
The County Tax Collector’s Office does not set the amount of tax required for the budget, or assess the values of individual properties in the county. They only collect, direct and invest the tax money. Taxpayer requests for avenues of resolution received only vague references to, the State Legislators… or City Council for answers. The Contact information below was provided at the end of the meeting.
County Commissioner’s Contact Information 509/477-2265