Assessor

Welcome to the Benton County Assessor’s Home Page

As your Benton County Assessor, I hope you find the information on our web site most helpful.  The goal of this web site is to help you find the information you need and to keep our “search for property” information open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Assessed (Market Value) Increase -VS- Property Tax Increase

How does the one percent levy limit affect property taxes on individual homes?

The one percent limit applies to the maximum increase in tax revenue that can be levied by an individual taxing district.  It does not apply to individual homes, which tend to increase in assessed valuations at varying rates depending on location and other factors.  Taxes on individual homes could increase by more or less than one percent depending on how they change in value relative to other properties in a district.

Example:

Home A increases from $200,000 to $220,000 in assessed value within a city (a 10 percent increase)

Home B increases from $200,000 to $240,000 in assessed value (a 20 percent increase)

Home C increases from $200,000 to $230,000 in assessed value (a 15 percent increase - the average increase in assessed valuations for all properties.)

The city collected $1,000,000 in property taxes in 2024 at a rate of $1.00 per $1,000 assessed value, on a total valuation of $1 billion. The city can increase its 2025 levy by one percent to $1,010,000 in 2025 (not counting any additional tax revenue from new construction added to the tax rolls in the past year). The total taxable value of properties in the district increased 15 percent from $1 billion to $1.15 billion (not counting new construction, improvements to property, state assessed utility value increases, and wind turbines, solar, biomass, and geothermal facilities). In order to keep from collecting more than one percent additional tax on existing properties, the city’s tax rate is lowered to $0.878261 from $1.00 per $1,000 assessed value.

2024, each of these three homes paid $200 in taxes on $200,000 of assessed value at the $1.00 rate.

2025, the tax depends on how their assessed values change compared to other properties in the city.

• Home A value increased by 10 percent; taxes drop to $193.22 on $220,000 of assessed value at $0.878261 rate (3.39% decrease)
• Home B value increased by 20 percent; taxes rise to $210.78 on $240,000 of assessed value at $0.878261 rate. (5.39% increase)
• Home C value increased by 15 percent; taxes rise to $202.00 on $230,000 of assessed value at $0.878261 rate (1% increase)

Visit our new Property Record Card 

Property Record Card is an on line record of all individual property information in a single location.

Visit our new Community Portal

(make sure to hit the start tour button to see all you can do)

Community is the perfect platform for citizen engagement, information is made available in an intuitive map-based format that is easy to search and navigate. Different areas can be viewed, and the information displayed can be customized to include, for example census, permits, property prices and details of schools.

Details of individual parcels and properties is a must-have online resource. People want to be able to access their own details and others of interest. Plot size, sales history, assessed value, local sales and much more are displayed in a simple easy to use format

Mission Statement

Our mission is to administer a property assessment system, which meets constitutional and statutory requirements, in an efficient and professional manner, while striving to provide courteous and excellent service to our customers The Benton County Assessor’s Office is responsible for determining the value of all taxable real and personal property in the County, set on a foundation that those determinations are fair and understandable.  This is done in accordance with Washington State law, which requires that all properties are assessed at 100% of fair market value.  In addition, the Assessor’s Office manages accessible property information, provides timely and accurate assessments for tax purposes, and maintains a detailed parcel map of all parcels within the County.

Contact Us

• Phone: 509-786-2046 (Prosser)
• Phone: 509-735-2394 (Kennewick)

Hours

Prosser Location:

• Tuesday - Thursday
• 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM by Appointment Only

Quick Links