Property and homeowners should have recently received their 2024 Tax Statements in the mail from our Snohomish County Treasurer’s Office. Tax statements are mailed to all taxpayers of record, so if you are a homeowner and your taxes are remitted by a mortgage company or other tax service company, the statement that you received is for informational purposes only.
In 2023, State laws that govern eligibility requirements for the Senior Citizen/Disabled Persons Exemption Program changed. For the 2024 property tax year, the 2023 disposable income threshold for Snohomish County residents to qualify for the Senior Citizen/Disabled Persons Exemption Program increased from $55,743 per year to $75,000. If you meet the eligibility requirements for the program, you will have a reduced amount of property taxes that you are responsible for paying, and it freezes the taxable value of the residence the first year you qualify. For applications or questions, please visit the County Assessor’s Office website or call 425-388-3433.
Snohomish County is a member of the National Association of Counties (NACo) and many of the councilmembers are active participants in NACo policy committees and conferences. This year I attended the 2024 Legislative Conference in Washington DC and enjoyed seminars and networking opportunities. This is my third year serving on the Environment, Energy, and Land Use Policy Steering Committee and appreciated a chance to meet with fellow committee members in-person to help steer national-level policies that can affect change here in Snohomish County. I also met with several of our federal representatives to lobby for funding to expand and remodel our County's new Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) clinic and adding a mobile van unit to reduce barriers for health care. It was a great conference and I look forward to next year.
Here are some pictures from the conference:
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Councilmember Nehring and I in Patty Murray’s office with the State Flag that was flown during inauguration |
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With Councilmember Nehring and Representative Suzan DelBene |
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With Representative Rick Larsen and Councilmember Nehring |
I recently attended the You Are Not Alone suicide prevention event at the Rosehill Community Center in Mukilteo. The event was hosted by the Snohomish County Youth Suicide Prevention Taskforce in partnership with the Volunteers of America 988 Crisis Line. Youth suicide and behavioral health issues are on the rise and the event was intended to share information and hope to all who attended. At the event I had the opportunity to speak with various service providers about the work that they do in the community and really appreciate their commitment to addressing this heartbreaking matter. While it’s critical to be able to see warning signs in others who may be considering suicide, it’s also imperative that we all practice self-care including advocating for our own mental well-being.
The Center for Human Services is a local organization that has free school-based mental health therapy programs available at Everett High School, Cascade High School, North Middle School, and Hawthorne Elementary School. These programs were made possible through a grant from Snohomish County. Young people at these schools can connect with a Student Support Advocate or School Counselor for free to discuss any mental health challenges they are facing. For more information, please visit https://www.chs-nw.org, call 206-362-282, or email chsadmin@chs-nw.org.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental or behavioral health crisis, or having thoughts of suicide, please know that you are not alone and there are support services available. You can call or text 988 24/7 and connect with someone right away. Be well – tomorrow needs you.
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Wonderful therapy dogs! |
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With Liza Patchen-Short, Event Organizer, who did a great job on engagement! |
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The county recently launched a new website that can help residents evaluate their local community's vulnerability to climate change. With the increase of wildfires, smoke, flooding, extreme heat, and other climate crisis-related events, the county is working to further understand how this global event is impacting the people of Snohomish County, and furthermore, disproportionately impacting certain areas. The website includes a Climate Vulnerability Tool which compiles comprehensive data to quantify how vulnerable your community is to climate change based on three indexes: adaptive capacity, sensitivity and susceptibility, and exposure. To go along with this new website, the county published the “Snohomish County Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Report” which dives further into the data behind the CVT to flush out impacts of climate change across our county.
There’s no denying that climate change is here and it’s time to take bold steps to address this crisis. The county is working hard to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and establish policies that support the environment and restore natural habitat. Any environmental work that we do is in conjunction with our local tribal partners.
Last month I shared that I was hosting a “Knit and Sip with Megan” event to help support the Evergreen Arboretum and Garden’s Color Storm event. Several knitters joined me at The Milk House Coffee Company and we knitted, sipped coffee, and enjoyed each other’s company. We worked to knit rectangles which will be used to wrap tree trunks and limbs at the gardens to infuse color and creativity at the site. The garden will be transformed for the whole month of March and I encourage you to stop by and enjoy the space.
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With the rectangle I knitted for the Color Storm event. I look forward to finding where it ends up in the Evergreen Arboretum and Garden! |
The Evergreen State Fair Park is gearing up for another exciting season filled with fun activities, plenty of shopping and a variety of food. Applications are now open for both commercial and food vendors interested in showcasing at the Fair. One-day information spaces are also available for community service non-profit organizations. Booths are available inside the Event Center and outside throughout the grounds. For more information on guidelines and the application process, email Fair.Vendor.Operations@snoco.org or visit this link.
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Washington’s Presidential Election Primary is coming up on March 12, and ballots should be arriving in your mailbox soon. You can return your ballot by mail or drop it off in a ballot drop box at multiple locations throughout Snohomish County. Those who haven’t registered to vote yet or need to update their registration can still do so online or by mail until March 4th, and in-person registration and ballots are available until 8 p.m. on election night at the Snohomish County Auditor’s office and at designated voting sites. Accessible voting equipment for voters with disabilities will be available at several locations, including the Snohomish County Campus in Everett. To participate in the Presidential Primary, voters are required to declare a political party when casting their vote. For more information, click here and visit frequently asked questions. If you need to register to vote, or if you need to update your voter registration information please go to www.votewa.gov.
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The City of Everett recently launched a call for artists to create utility box wraps on Casino Road. Artists chosen for this project will be awarded a stipend of $1,000 per design. Those interested are encouraged to submit applications before March 1, 2024, via the City’s website. For more information, please visit this information page or call 425-257-7107.
Kayak Point Park’s day-use area will reopen on July 1, 2024, after most of phase 1 construction has wrapped up. Open areas include the beach, trails, parking, restrooms, picnic shelters, the new boat launch, playground, campground, and overflow parking. Phase 1 began in July of last year and included a single-lane, elevated boat launch, a boarding float, queuing lanes, vehicle and truck/trailer parking, and underground utilities. The pier will remain closed during this interim stage.
The day-use area will close again October 15, 2024, for the launch of phase 2 construction which is expected to include updates to the remainder of the day-use area, habitat, and infrastructure improvements. The new design will relocate parking away from the shoreline, renovate the boat launch, provide habitat improvements, and allow for additional recreation space. For more details, click here.
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