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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 14 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 15 |
| 1884 | 10 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 4 |
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| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 14 |
| 1890 | 2 |
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| 1892 | 30 |
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| 1904 | 15 |
| 1905 | 3 |
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| 1909 | 32 |
| 1910 | 11 |
| 1911 | 5 |
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| 1916 | 14 |
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404 stories matching assess
- City Council Loses Tax Assessment Battle
A blunder by city officials leads to a court dismissal of tax collection suits, forcing the city to start the assessment process from scratch.
- Seattle Wins Its Yesler Avenue Grade Assessment in the State Supreme Court
The state Supreme Court reverses a lower court and holds that a regular assessment roll alone makes the city's case to collect the Yesler Avenue grade assessment — the defense must now prove any defect.
- The Price of Progress on Stewart Street
Forty property owners take the city to court over a doubled assessment for the grading of Stewart Street.
- Jefferson Street Was Graded on Paper
Homeowners refused to pay an assessment for street work they say was never properly authorized—or finished.
- The Tax Revolt in Willapa Harbor
Citizens in Pacific County gather to protest unequal and unfair property assessments that favored railroad interests.
- The Madison Street Assessment Battle
A property owner challenges the legality of street improvement assessments in Seattle, setting the stage for litigation.
- The Tax Battle Over the Railroad Tracks
Walla Walla County commissioners face a recurring fiscal headache as state regulators override local tax assessments on railway property.
- The Great Tax Assessment Revolt
Citizens and officials clash in Olympia over whether property should be assessed at 'full cash value' or kept artificially low to protect against Territorial overreach.
- The Heron Street Debt
Aberdeen City Council debates how to handle unpaid improvement assessments in a legal quagmire.
- The Unfair Tax on Being Alive
An 1878 Seattle citizen challenges the 'double and treble taxation' of poll taxes, arguing that labor should not be penalized while property owners receive preferential treatment.
- The City’s Illicit Sidewalk Assessment
After the Supreme Court declared a sidewalk assessment 'void and contrary to law,' James Stanaford fights City Hall to reclaim his money.
- City Attorney Blocks Olympia’s Columbia Street Assessment
A legal opinion found that street grading and planking done without contracts could not be charged to abutting owners beyond $500—putting more than $2,000 in assessments in doubt.
- The Seattle Boom of 1882
An economic report reveals that property assessments in Seattle have jumped 150 percent in just three months, cementing the city's status as the wealthiest on the Pacific coast north of California.
- The Hard Pan Tax Dispute
A small-town legal battle in Anacortes reveals how railroad companies and local governments clashed over the definition of 'rock' to dodge municipal assessments.
- City Wins Right to Levy Special Street Assessments
A landmark court decision by Judge Greene clears the path for city infrastructure funding by upholding the legality of special assessments for street improvements.
- The High Cost of City Growth
When an ambitious land company faced a revolt over unfair property assessments in 1889, it revealed the messy reality of building Seattle from the ground up.
- The Great Tax Assessment Debacle of 1887
King County taxpayers find themselves in an uproar as a bungled property assessment, based on a worthless abstract, threatens the city’s financial stability.
- Seattle’s Street-Grade Tax Test Case
A judge upholds the city’s assessment method, setting up a Supreme Court fight over who pays when a street is graded under an old charter.
- Supreme Court Judges Refuse to Pay Road Taxes They Helped Build
Two justices owning land along Whatcom roads balk at assessments under the new law, hinting at a constitutional fight.
- The Great Tax Assessment Mess of 1887
Seattle and King County property owners find their tax rolls hopelessly entangled in errors, leaving public officials to question if the entire assessment should be scrapped.
- The Day Seattle’s Wealthiest Bankers Challenged the Taxman
In a landmark 1876 legal maneuver, Arthur Denny and Dexter Horton petitioned King County Commissioners to stop paying taxes on their mortgage loans, arguing that taxing the debt while the property was already taxed amounted to double taxation.
- The Tax Collector’s Quiet Heist in Thurston County
Assessments against “unknown owners,” doubled fees and $9,000 in illegal exactions left property titles tangled and taxpayers furious.
- The Taxman Cometh: A Seattle Pioneer Defends His Reputation
Prominent settler George Kinnear clarifies his position after appearing on a list of delinquent taxpayers for street improvements.
- The Grading Debt That Never Was
A judge rules that Seattle property owners don't have to pay for street improvements that the city never actually finished.
- The Price of Progress: Seattle's Tax Troubles
Property owners grapple with delinquent taxes and the city's aggressive attempts to collect on street grading assessments under the new charter.