Assessor's Notice

09/01/2025

A message from the Assessor:

Whitman County's change of value (COV) notices were mailed on August 29th, 2025. If your property received a value change, the assigned taxpayer will receive a COV. Please note that the period to appeal is 30 days from the date printed on the notice.  

You may look up your property on our website (Tax Sifter Link). Please review the assessor and appraisal details. If you have concerns or see informational errors, call or email us or place a request on our website (request link).

Accredited Appraisers physically inspected 1/6th of the county to adjust values for 2026's taxation. The physical inspection areas were Colton, Uniontown, Rural Pullman (outside city limits), Colfax, and the surrounding rural areas. 

Appraisers statistically updated the rest of the county based on sales analysis. In larger communities, such as Pullman, we broke down the analysis by neighborhood. In the rest of the county, the analysis was by district. 

Appraisers updated values on all land in soil classification and homesite values. We conducted a sales analysis stratified by all sales, incorporating soil class and homesite values. We applied an increase to soil class values within and outside the current use program based on the findings.

Whitman County's assessed value is to reflect 100% of the true and fair value unless otherwise provided by law. The true and fair value is defined in WAC 458-07-030 as market value. State law requires the county assessor to revalue real property on an annual basis. (RCW 84.41. 030).

Any taxpayer who disagrees with the value determined by the Assessor has the right to appeal the valuation to the county board of equalization.

(Link to BOE)

06/05/2024

Many taxpayers in Whitman County have received the *Assessor’s Notice of Change of Value* and have reached out to the Assessor’s office for more information.  

The assessed value increase is directly related to the increase in the current housing market. Washington State requires assessed values to be at 100% of market value. Whitman County’s ratio of Assessments to Market has been historically low, as low as 62% in 2022/2023 and 73% in 2023/2024. We are diligently working on raising the assessed values of all properties as required by law. 

We are on an annual revaluation cycle which means all properties are reviewed and potentially adjusted each year. We also physically inspect each area every six years. The North half of Pullman, as well as other areas of the county, made up our physical inspection area for 2025’s appraisal. Development costs have increased in the last few years and sales, or the market, are high. Assessment is a direct result of market transactions that have taken place and, as mentioned earlier, is required to be 100% of market value. The Assessor’s office measures the appraisal level of an area and market type (land, commercial, home, etc.) by comparing the appraised value to the sales prices. We then use this calculation to give a market adjustment.

The percentage of value change in assessment does not necessarily mean a like percentage of tax increase. An increase in assessed value means we shouldn’t have to collect as much per $1,000 of assessments to get the money the taxing districts need for their budget (the levies). Taxing districts are limited to a 1% increase on their regular levy requests. Excess levies are voter-approved. To estimate your potential tax amount, take the total assessed value divided by 1,000 and multiply that answer by your district’s current levy rate. See below for incorporated area's levy rates.

Thank you for reaching out about your change of value. It is beneficial to everyone if we can resolve any issues before the appeal process. The appeal window is 30 days from the date printed on the notice.  

For any additional questions or concerns you may have, please contact our office at 509-397-6220 or assessors@whitmancounty.gov