Tacoma warehouse and industrial property owners will see their assessed values climb 5% on average when 2027 tax bills arrive.

It's the steepest increase among all commercial property types in Pierce County's new valuations released Thursday, June 25.

The Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer's office pegged the countywide commercial increase at 3% over 2025, while residential values slipped 1%. The residential decline affects about two-thirds of the county's property owners, according to the office's release.

Warehouse and light industrial properties posted the largest gains, with the biggest increases concentrated in Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, and Sumner, according to the assessor's data. Retail properties — restaurants, stand-alone buildings, and neighborhood shopping centers — rose about 4%. Multifamily and office properties gained 2%.

The Tideflats industrial area, home to roughly 10.8 million square feet of warehouse and logistics space on Port-owned land, represents the county's largest concentration of industrial property.

Assessor-Treasurer Marty Campbell cautioned that higher assessed values don't automatically translate to higher taxes. "A lot of factors go into what people's tax bills will look like in 2027 — including whether voters already approved or will approve any additional levies or special assessments ballot measures — so we won't know what that will look like until early next year," Campbell said.

The valuations set each owner's share of taxes certified by Pierce County's 86 taxing districts. The office collects nearly $2.1 billion in property taxes annually, funding schools, libraries, parks, and emergency services across 171 tax code areas. Under state law, non-voter-approved districts are capped at a 1% tax increase per year, plus revenue from new construction.

Campbell said the residential cooling mirrors national trends. Individual tax amounts won't be finalized until early 2027.

Property owners who disagree with their new valuation can file a free appeal with the Pierce County Board of Equalization by Monday, August 25. State law requires valuations at 100% of fair market value; the 2026 assessments are based on 2025 sales data.

Contact: Katie Rose, Deputy Assessor-Treasurer, 253-798-7177.