Are we on the brink of a tax revolt?
There’s something unusual happening to property values in Seattle right now. As housing prices continue to climb, the value of commercial property is taking a big plunge. The County Assessor warns office buildings will be worth 30-40% less next year.
This is a historic shift. And it will have impacts on the cost of living for all of us.
That might not sit well with people who are already feeling the effects of inflation and high prices. Joshua looks at the downstream effects of plunging commercial real estate values, and what might happen at the ballot box this fall, as a result.
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/booming.
Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producer is Whitney Henry-Lester and Lucy Soucek. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Lucy Soucek, filling in for Monica Nickelsburg.
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Joshua McNichols
Growth and Development Reporter
As KUOW's Growth and Development reporter and co-host of KUOW's Booming podcast, Joshua's "growing pains" beat sits at the nexus of housing, transportation, urban planning, government and the economy. His favorite stories also include themes of history, technology, and climate change.
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Lucy Soucek
Podcast Producer
Lucy Soucek is a podcast producer who works on THE WILD with Chris Morgan, a podcast about the wonder and resilience of nature. She's trudged through waist-deep sawgrass looking for pythons and planned reporting trips 5,000 miles away in Ireland.
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Whitney Henry-Lester
Podcast Producer
Whitney is a podcast producer at KUOW. She helped develop some of KUOW's first podcasts, including How's Your Day? and Second Wave.
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Carol Smith
Editor
Carol is an editor of news, features, documentaries and podcasts at KUOW. She specializes in narrative approaches. Her team of reporters has covered a range of beats, including regional growth issues, homelessness, the economy, public health, immigration, food, arts and culture. Prior to joining KUOW, Carol was a long-time print journalist for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Los Angeles Times and others. Her enterprise reporting has won multiple national j awards for investigative and explanatory journalism. She is author of the memoir: Crossing the River: Seven Stories that Saved My Life (Abrams Press, 2021).
More stories from Carol Smith »
