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Tax appeals explained

Regarding “Woman wins public records lawsuit against Spokane County,” Oct. 14:

The state of Washington has an administrative process in place for property tax appeals. Patricia Strand has fully utilized her appeal rights. She has brought her case(s) before the Spokane County Board of Equalization, State Board of Tax Appeals, Spokane County Superior Court and the Washington Court of Appeals a total of 10 times. She attempted to appeal her property tax case directly to the state Supreme Court and was rejected by the court. At this writing, she has not prevailed in any property assessment cases.

The Public Records Act Model Rules state, “An agency can provide access to a public record by posting it on its web site.” Many state and local agencies publish information on their websites as a means for public access believing this meets the requirements of the Public Records Act.

Byron Hodgson

Chief deputy assessor

Spokane

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