160 years ago, Snohomish County had a populace “of the forty-four pioneers of civilization whose names appear on the census of 1862, quite a number had been constrained to adopt some of the customs and habits of their Indian neighbors….” All were men, there were no
family units, no women, nor any children. By 1880 the County’s population had grown to 1,387 and by 1890 to 8,514, including this writer’s Pilchuck homesteading ancestors. Most of their stories reflected the County as a “lonely place;” 160 acres of isolation. The County was formed in 1861, the County ‘continued the Territory’s Orange Act property taxes (in 1886 amended so that revenue producing property of churches is taxable). Many homesteaders lost their land to these “Everett taxes to pave their streets.” It was difficult to “create cash” living on a rural, isolated homestead and for some, it was difficult to find a wife and have a family. There were no phones, no electricity, no running water. When this writer grew up, there was a huge difference between the rural and the Bostonians (city folks). Homesteaders lost their land to Everett banks who foreclosed because the County had not collected taxes for 1) Ports, 2) Fire, 3) city streets, sewage, etc., 4) county roads, water, etc., 5) schools … almost all uses being within city boundaries. These an irritant for a subsistence farmer but trumped by the inability to generate the coins – cash needed to pay this annual bill, the property tax that assures “the peoples” will finally own your properties … as sure as the rain will fall.
https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/HomeOwn.pdf
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/the-feudal-history-of-property-tax-in-america/497099/
https://eh.net/encyclopedia/history-of-property-taxes-in-the-united-states/
https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/the-most-hated-tax-and-what-states-are-doing-about-it
It is difficult to criticize an approach that works for a Country when compared to others, your Country is doing so much better than most. The year in which Property Taxes were levied in the State of Washington was:
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