The Anacortes American reported on Wednesday that assessments in Anacortes won't change much this year - except for Skyline. Skyline is anticipated to see some decrease in assessed values this year. 

According to the American, "Anacortes was physically inspected in 2007 and its assessed value went up nearly 20 percent, increasing from about $4.342 billion to about $5.275 billion. The value is for all properties in the Anacortes School District boundaries, including residential land and commercial property, such as the refineries. The assessed value increase was an accumulation of what happened over the past few years."

The recent market downturn probably won't be reflected in most assessed values until 2010. Skyine residents will see a drop this year of about 5%.

Skagit County uses an overall budget basis for calculating taxes, so your taxes may or may not rise if your assessment changes. Your taxes will rise and fall based on your overall change in value compared to everyone else in the county. I encourage you to get wise about your property taxes - how they are calculated, how value is determined and how an increase or decrease in value really affects your bottom line!