Homeowners and property tax payers in Yelm could see some savings next year as the City of Yelm’s finance department projects a decrease in the property tax levy in 2025.
Stephanie Nanavich, the City of Yelm’s finance director, said during the City Council study session on Tuesday, Nov. 5, that the proposed property tax levy rate for 2025 is $.99 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. In 2024, the rate was $1.13 per $1,000.
She added that a homeowner with a house valued at $400,000 would have paid $405 in property taxes in 2024 but will pay $396 in property taxes this year. Though the savings are projected at just $9, every dollar saved counts.
“Their tax bill has actually gone down a little bit if their house value were to stay the same,” Nanavich said.
She added that, between the fire district, the library and the City of Yelm, the three branches are allocated a statutory maximum of $3.60 in allowed property tax collection levies. The fire district is allowed a maximum of $1.50, while the library is allowed $.50 cents, and the city is allowed $1.60.
In 2024, the city’s rate was at $1.05 per $1,000, while the library was at $.23, and the fire district was at its maximum of $1.50. Combining the three left a total of $.82 cents of capacity. Nanavich said the city would have to go before voters in order to increase its capacity from $1.05.
“We, as the city, have $.55 cents of [available] capacity. Yelm should feel proud that we have that much capacity available. I feel like we’re in a good spot,” Nanavich said. “That is basically capacity that we, or the library, could go before the voters if we wanted excess capacity for whatever. If you wanted a bond and wanted to go to the voters for capacity for a bond, you could.”
Nanavich also highlighted that the city’s assessed value sits at a little more than $1.8 million and that the levy basis for calculation is $1,699,578 — or the 2024 levy total. She reiterated that the City of Yelm will not take the 1% increase in the levy amount this year.
“To add to that regular levy amount of $1,699,000, we have $90,358 of new construction levy — that’s new properties that’ve come on to the assessor rolls, and we have $9,849 of re-levy prior year refunds. So right now, and I don’t have final numbers from Thurston County, our 2025 proposed property tax levy is $1,800,617,” Nanavich said. “We are not proposing to take the 1% increase. We could take 1% increase without going to the voters, but this is information on the RCW that allows that increase. We are allowed the new construction that comes on to our books.”
Councilor Joseph Richardson asked what constitutes a re-levy refund, to which Nanavich said it’s nothing that the City of Yelm did wrong.
“It’s nothing that we do,” she said. “It’s the actions of the assessors at the Thurston County Assessors. It could be that they miscalculated something. I’d have to look into it more. They just tell me the number, and tell me to plug it in. It’s nothing that the city has done [incorrectly].”
— To read through the City of Yelm’s budget information, visit the city website at www.ci.yelm.wa.us and click on “City finance budget information.” Visitors will then be redirected to a page where they can click on “2025-26 budget” with several presentations on the upcoming city budget.
