Home of Bezos and Gates could soon be in hot water as voters split on levy
Nov 6, 2019, 8:21 AM | Updated: 4:43 pm
Bill Gates Medina home. (Derek Purdy, Flickr Creative Commons)
Medina — the home of Washington’s wealthiest moguls in Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos — is running out of money, and could soon be in hot water if a crucial property levy continues to lag in polls.
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According to The Seattle Times, Medina is projecting a $500,000 deficit in 2020, and $3.3 million by 2025, largely driven by exceedingly low tax rates on some of the most expensive homes the region has to offer. The city hoped to fix that by raising its property tax rate to 84 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value in 2020, with an additional 5 percent increase each year after that until 2025.
The proposed levy is losing by just four votes, even after a second round of vote tallying on Wednesday — with 412 votes against it and 408 in favor. In total, the city has just under 2,200 registered voters. According to King County Elections, just 958 ballots in Medina were submitted, with 840 counted.
Essentially, the owner of a $2 million home — the low-end of home prices in Medina — would pay $1,680 in property taxes per year to the city under the new levy, an increase of roughly $400. Right now, the city’s homeowners pay just 64 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value, among the lowest in the state. Comparatively, Bellevue pays 94 cents for every $1,000, while Redmond pays $1.15. Seattle pays $8.29 for every $1,000 of assessed value.
If the measure beats the odds and passes, Medina would add an additional $900,000 to the $2.8 million they currently bring in from property tax, bolstering their operating budget of $6.4 million.
Check out the latest election results
If it doesn’t, things might get dire, with a projected deficit of $500,000 in 2020. The city claims that could balloon to $3.3 million by 2025. The loss of essential services like harbor patrol and lifeguards, as well as possible layoffs of city staff are all on the table if the levy fails.
The next round of results is expected Thursday afternoon, so stay tuned.
