Harger: Pierce County forgot to charge me for a school levy, sent a letter blaming nobody, and wants $1,100 by November

I got a letter the other day from the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer. So did all my neighbors.

As I’ve mentioned before, I live in Auburn, but a tiny sliver of the city lies in Pierce County rather than King County, where most of Auburn is located. We’re the corner piece of a jigsaw puzzle that fell under the wrong couch.

The letter informed us of a “discrepancy” on our 2026 property tax statement. Not a mistake. Not an error. A discrepancy. Like it just showed up on its own, uninvited, possibly wearing a trench coat.

Here’s what happened. Auburn voters approved a school district levy in November 2025. The levy changes everyone’s property tax bill. Somehow, Pierce County mailed out tax statements in February 2026 without including the new levy. King County, which handles the bulk of Auburn, presumably got it right. Pierce County forgot its little corner of Auburn exists. Oops.

Now they’d like us to come up with an extra $1,100 by Nov. 2. And they’d like us to know this is definitely not their fault.

Welcome to the passive voice hall of fame

I want to walk through some of the language in this letter, because I think County Assessor-Treasurer Marty Campbell’s office deserves a trophy.

“We’re contacting you regarding a discrepancy on your 2026 property tax statement,” it read. “Unfortunately, the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s Office was informed of the true levy rate, including the approved levy, after property tax statements were mailed Feb. 13, 2026.”

This is the masterpiece: “was informed.” The office is the passive victim of information arriving late, as though the levy rate wandered into the building on its own schedule and refused to check in at the front desk. Voters approved this levy in November. Statements went out Feb. 13. That’s three months to look up one number. Somebody’s entire job is looking up these numbers.

And never mind that it’s been nearly six months since Feb. 13 and we just got the notice this week.

“The Washington State Department of Revenue is directing our office to issue updated statements.”

This reads like they’re saying they didn’t even fix it on their own. The state had to tell them to send the correction. They’re putting this in writing, possibly without realizing how it reads.

“We understand that this unexpected correction may cause financial hardship.”

Unexpected? The election results were public. The levy was approved by voters. The only people surprised by this are the people whose job it was to know.

No apology. Anywhere.

There’s no “sorry.” No “we apologize.” No, “this was our error.” The assessor signed his name to a letter telling taxpayers to pay up, and the word “mistake” doesn’t appear in it.

What does appear? Four helpful “ways to pay.” Online, mail, phone, and in person. Very accommodating about how you can hand over the money they forgot to bill you for. Oh, and if this “unexpected correction may cause financial hardship,” they’ve helpfully included a phone number for the Washington Homeownership Resource Center.

If you underpaid your property taxes by $1,100, would you get a polite letter?

And look, I want to be fair. I owe this money. The levy passed. If Pierce County had gotten it right in February, it would’ve been folded into my mortgage escrow, my payment would’ve gone up, and I wouldn’t have complained. That’s how it works every year. The county sends the numbers to the mortgage company, the mortgage company adjusts your payment, life goes on.

But because Pierce County biffed it, that normal process didn’t happen. So now I get to spend my afternoon on the phone with my mortgage company explaining a correction letter from the county assessor, for an error I didn’t make, hoping they can sort out the escrow before Nov. 2. That’s my time, fixing the assessor’s mistake. And my neighbors are doing the same thing.

An acknowledgment that yeah, we dropped the ball on this one, and we’re sorry you have to clean it up.

Instead, we got passive voice and a payment portal.

Coming up with $1,100 we didn’t budget for isn’t going to be a hardship for my family. But somewhere in my neighborhood this morning, somebody is staring at this letter and wondering where that money comes from. A retired couple on a fixed income. A young family stretching to make the mortgage. They budgeted around the tax bill they were given, because that’s what you do when the county sends you a number. You trust it.

Pierce County made a mistake, won’t apologize, and wants the money by November.

A suggestion

I have a thought for Marty Campbell. It would take about ten seconds.

Issue a public statement that says: “We made a mistake. We’re sorry. We should have caught this before statements went out, and we didn’t. We apologize to the families affected, and we’re reviewing our process to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Adding a “my bad” would also work. It’s the new “the buck stops here.”

That’s it. That’s the whole thing. It wouldn’t cost the county a dime. It would just require someone in government to say two words that apparently aren’t in the style guide.

“We’re sorry.”

Until then, I’ll be online paying my $1,100. The website, I’m told, is very user-friendly.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

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