A group of property owners testified during the Board of Lewis County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting on Tuesday, March 11, sharing concerns over a major jump in their property taxes this year.
New value assessments completed by the county assessor’s office showed a large increase in property values and, as a result, the amount of property taxes they owe.
Some property values rose by more than 40%.
The common denominator between these properties? They were all listed as short-term rentals for some portion of 2024 — and a large portion of them are located in or around the unincorporated East Lewis County community of Packwood. They consist of homes rented through Airbnb, Vrbo and other similar short-term rental apps.
The property owners are worried that if their home values continue to go up at the current rate, they will be forced to sell.
In response to their public comments on Tuesday, Commissioners Sean Swope and Scott Brummer said they understood the public's concerns but that, ultimately, property value assessments are the responsibility of the county assessor.
Lewis County Assessor Ross Nielson, however, said that the county's assessments are spot on.
In the state of Washington, property tax values are decided in part by comparing properties with others that sold in the last year. During this process, properties are sorted into different types, including residential and commercial, with subcategories such as being stick built or manufactured.
In the last few years, Lewis County has begun appraising short-term rentals as a separate group from standard residential properties.
Nielson said that the short-term rental properties behave differently on the market.
“I can't predict what it will do, but, so far, they have been selling for considerably more,” Nielson said. “We’re not saying they are valued higher; we are saying they sell higher.”
While all counties use the same general approach to property tax assessments, not all of them treat short-term rentals as different from a standard residential property. Pierce County, which neighbors Lewis County to the north and splits the Ashford community with Lewis County, is a good example of this.
“Residential properties in Pierce County used as short-term rentals are appraised the same as other residential properties,” Pierce County Deputy Assessor-Treasurer Alice McDaniel said over email. “Currently, we do not have a system to track short-term rentals unless a jurisdiction requires a permit or business license.”
Lewis County, however, contracts with a company called Granicus to identify rental properties and track how frequently they are used.
Property owners who spoke out at the recent Lewis County commissioners meeting challenged the idea that short-term rentals should be in a category separate from standard residential, pointing out that a short-term rental property can be purchased for normal residential use and vice versa, or that they can be rented out just a couple times a year. Even among this group, the way they use their properties is varied.
Some are primary residences with spaces that can be rented out. Others are investment properties owned by people living in other counties, and still others are vacation or family homes that are rented out part of the year and used by family and friends at other times.
Rob Maricle, one of the people who spoke at the commissioners meeting, lives in Packwood in a home that he purchased in 2019. Since moving to the property, he and his wife have built a shop with an additional bedroom where they’ve stayed during the three times that they rented out their main house.
Maricle said he’s worried that he is being targeted as a short-term rental operator and that he is facing higher property taxes despite renting his home only one time in 2024.
“There just seems to be a real double standard in how assessments are done,” he said. “When I got my assessment this year, the first thought I had was that I am being penalized for speaking out because my assessment went up 44% last year.”
According to Maricle, who shared the information with the board, a neighboring property with similar improvements was assessed at about half the value of his own.
“My motive is, ‘Let me use my bad situation to shine the light of the situation that is facing people who are potentially going to lose their homes,’” Maricle said. “People will say it is self serving. You’re darn right. If I don’t pay $1,500 a month in property taxes they will come and foreclose on my home.”
Nielson is insistent that it is not his department's goal to target people, but rather to improve their appraisals and reports to the Washington Department of Revenue. He said “it’s purely following the numbers.”
“In appraisal, it is a rule to value like properties and to work to give the most credible results,” Nielson said over email. “By stratifying different property types, our reporting to the Department of Revenue is more accurate.”
Laura Parker, who also testified at the BOCC meeting, added concerns that the jump in property value from the recent appraisal would make it difficult to sell the house if she needed to.
“If I try to sell, I’m stuck,” Parker said during the meeting Tuesday. “The county has artificially inflated its value for tax purposes, but that doesn’t reflect its true market worth. A buyer looking to purchase the home won’t see the same value the county claims it has.”
Other speakers shared a wealth of additional concerns on how the assessments and the resulting taxes will impact them and others. Some pointed out that even if a house is purchased as a short-term rental, the new operators do not inherit a fully functioning business in the traditional sense. They are responsible for orchestrating their own business and cultivating new clients.
Others pointed out that short-term rentals contribute to the local economy by supporting tourism and hiring people in positions that maintain their properties. Still more raised privacy concerns over the county contract with Granicus.
Parts of Lewis County, including Packwood, have been a hotbed for short-term rental debates in the recent past. The area has gained popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic due to its close proximity to outdoor recreation areas such as the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mount Rainier National Park, Mount St. Helens and the White Pass Ski Area.
In 2022 the Chronicle reported that there were 204 short-term rentals in the greater Packwood area listed on AirDNA, a website that tracks lodging data. In 2025, the site shows 456 in the same area.
