When lifelong islanders Craig and Pat Harmeling received their property tax bill in February, the total was some $400 over what they paid last year — adding a considerable expense to their budget.

Last week, sitting outside the north-end home they bought nearly 50 years ago, Craig Harmeling spoke to the costs many island seniors face: higher medical expenses, increased ferry fares, paying for help to complete challenging projects at home that they used to handle themselves, all topped off with rising — sometimes dramatically — property taxes.

“It’s lucky we are free and clear on the house. If we weren’t, we would be hurting really bad,” he said.

By several accounts, the Harmelings have plenty of company, particularly among seniors and others on fixed incomes, in feeling the property tax pinch. Home values have increased considerably over time on Vashon, and voters have approved several county and local initiatives, which make up more than 35 percent of most island homeowners’ property tax bills, according to the King County Assessor’s website. Records from recent years indicate a steady rise in home values and taxes. On Vashon this year the median assessed home value is $370,000 with taxes of $4,482. In 2013, the median assessed value was $291,000 with taxes of $3,877, some $600 less than they are currently.

For some islanders, however, tax relief is available through the state’s property tax exemption program, administered by the county. People who cannot work because they are disabled and seniors 61 years of age and older who have a disposable income of $40,000 or less are eligible. In previous years, the income limit was set at $35,000, but the state increased that amount last year. The program benefits participants in two ways, said Iris Hoffner, the accounting division director at King County. Program participants’ property values are frozen for tax purposes in the year they enter the program, and they pay a lower tax rate based on income. Bailey Stober, the director of communications and external relations at the King County Assessor’s Office, stressed that the exemption program is a forgiveness program, and no money needs to be paid back. He noted that King County Assessor John Wilson made home affordability a cornerstone issue in his recent campaign for the office, and staff have been working to increase awareness of the exemption program. In April, The Seattle Times reported that 40,000 people were eligible for the program throughout King County, but only 15,000 had signed up. Outreach efforts are paying off, Stober said last week, as applications have increased from 100 to 700 a month since January. He encouraged eligible islanders to apply and noted that on Vashon, 192 seniors are currently enrolled in the program.

“We want seniors to know this is a right they have,” he said. “This is not a give-away or a handout. It is a right. We hope we can help them stay in their homes a little bit longer and not be taxed out.”

The assessor’s office staff will help with applications over the phone if needed, and Hoffner said they are willing to send representatives to Vashon if invited; at the Vashon Senior Center, director Ava Apple said she will extend that invitation. Islander Hilary Emmer also helps seniors with the applications. This is a good time of year to apply to the exemption program, Stober noted — well in advance of the next property tax due date, which is in October.

For many years, King County officials combined Vashon’s property tax data with that of the rest of unincorporated King County, Stober said, making it difficult to trace the island’s collective property tax history. However, since 2013, the median annual property tax has increased nearly 15 percent. By contrast, Emmer, who estimates she has helped about 50 islanders complete the applications for the exemption program, noted that Social Security recipients did not get a raise this year and in the previous two years had a cumulative increase of about 3 percent.

“This is why seniors cannot keep up with the increase in property taxes,” she said. “Not to mention the people who are working and have not seen a raise in quite a while.”

Vashon residents are not alone in facing rising property taxes, Stober said, and he noted home values and taxes vary widely throughout the county.

In Seattle, the median assessed value is $480,000 with taxes of $4,553. In Redmond, the median assessed value is $568,000 with taxes of $5,477. In the South Sound, the median assessed valued in Algona is $183,00 with taxes of $2,451.

Stober stressed that taxes are affected by housing values to some degree but are not tied proportionately to them, and voter-approved initiatives have a large effect on taxes.

“If everyone voted, ‘no’ on every levy, your taxes are not going to change much,” he said.

Records show that around the county, there is variety in how much residents tax themselves. While Seattle homeowners may pay 43 percent of their annual property taxes for voter-approved measures, homeowners in Renton and Algona may pay 50 percent or more for such initiatives, and in Kent, about 46 percent. Stober noted those percentages can vary within communities as well. On Vashon, voter-approved taxes, at 35 percent of annual property taxes, support a range of services and programs, from the library and schools to the fire and park districts. Two new county-wide measures this year, which Vashon voted to support, are Best Starts for Kids and an emergency radio communications upgrade. Combined, the new initiatives account for less than $100 added to the median tax bill.

Decisions of what to fund and not fund are entirely up to the voters, Stober said, but he noted the assessor is advocating that communities talk about rising taxes — and the possibility of funding initiatives through means other than property taxes.

“For our seniors and people on fixed incomes, this is real money that is … at the point of (people) needing to have real conversations,” he said. “We are not advocating specific solutions, but we are advocating community conversations around this and asking the public what they want to do.”

On Vashon, island real estate agent Emma Amiad spoke to some of the challenges at hand. Some seniors, particularly those that have lived on the island a long time, have seen their home values and property taxes soar, she said, leaving them struggling to keep up.

“If you have been sitting on your house for 30 years and paid $45,000 for it and it is now worth $900,000, that is not helpful,” she said, noting the accompanying taxes. “You begin to see people moving, taking their profit and going elsewhere.”

She predicts the trend is here is to stay.

“It is going to get way harder,” she added.

Ken Zaglin, who owns John L. Scott, said that prior to the recession, he heard from seniors as well as younger families regarding concerns about the costs associated with owning a home on Vashon, including property taxes. In the intervening years, he has not heard those concerns, he said, but believes they will occur again.

“If appreciation continues, I have no doubt it will be the next question on the horizon,” he said.

Back at the Harmelings’ home, Craig Harmeling noted he is not sure how much more he is willing to tax islanders, saying he believes the rising taxes will limit who will be able to live on the island.

“I have voted for everything for years,” school, parks and everybody else, and I have been part of the fire department. But I’m going to have to think about what I am voting for,” he said. “We need a better system to support these things than property taxes.”

Property tax help

The King County Assessor’s website includes information on the exemption program for people with disabilities and seniors whose disposable income is $40,000 or less. It also includes deferral options for people whose disposable income is higher than $40,000 and less than $57,000.

For more information, see kingcounty.gov/depts/assessor/Common-Questions/Residential or call 296-3920.