Candidate for King County Assessor
Transparency. Accountability. Fairness.
I'm running for King County Assessor because property owners deserve a system they can understand, challenge fairly, and trust. The Assessor is not simply an appraiser. It is a leadership role, and leadership means asking whether the system is actually working for the people it serves.
Why this office matters
The King County Assessor is not simply an appraiser.
The Assessor is the elected leader responsible for providing management, direction, and oversight to an office whose decisions affect property owners throughout King County. Professional appraisal staff perform the technical work of assessing property, but leadership determines the standards, priorities, accountability, transparency, and culture of the organization.
Many people assume the role is technical. It is an executive leadership position responsible for an entire department and an assessment system that touches every property owner in the county. The elected Assessor's job is not to accept that "the system does what it does." Leadership means continually evaluating whether that system is actually producing the fair, uniform, transparent, and accountable results taxpayers are entitled to expect.
The questions a leader should be asking:
"Government should be judged by results, not intentions."
I am not running simply to administer the existing system. I am running to lead it: to provide meaningful oversight, challenge processes that are not producing fair results, strengthen accountability, and ensure that taxpayers remain at the center of every decision made by the Assessor's Office.
This campaign is not about minor adjustments to the status quo. It is about pursuing meaningful, system-wide reforms that protect taxpayers, strengthen property rights, restore public confidence, and help ensure people are not taxed out of their homes.
Understanding the office
Most people never think about the Assessor's Office until a valuation notice arrives. Here is what the office is responsible for and, just as importantly, what it isn't.
How your assessment becomes your tax bill
The Assessor's Office estimates your property's market value using mass appraisal, a data-driven, standardized method that must be applied uniformly.
The county, cities, schools, fire districts, and voter-approved measures set the budgets and levies that determine the total to be collected.
Your bill is your slice of that total. If your value rises more than similar properties, your share goes up, even if the total didn't. That's why uniformity matters.
Why leadership matters here: assessments directly affect how the tax burden is allocated among taxpayers. Ensuring they are fair, accurate, transparent, and consistently applied is the Assessor's core responsibility, and it takes oversight, not just software.
About
I am a lifelong Washington resident who believes in hard work, family, community, and treating people with honesty and respect. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Washington State University and previously worked for Alaska Airlines, where I served as a union shop steward and member of IAM Local 2202. Those experiences taught me the importance of leadership, communication, and standing up for others.
Alongside my family, I have helped build and operate several small business ventures, including Four Horsemen Brewery. Small business ownership has given me a deep appreciation for the challenges and opportunities that come with building something from the ground up and serving the community we call home.
As a rural unincorporated King County resident, I have personally experienced how confusing and frustrating the property tax system can be. After filing property tax appeals, reviewing assessment data, and researching mass appraisal practices, I became convinced that King County needs a more transparent, accountable, and uniform assessment system, and that it starts with leadership willing to ask hard questions.
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, supporting local businesses, working in the garden, and pursuing projects that involve problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and creating opportunities that benefit others. I believe strong communities are built by people who are willing to get involved, listen to one another, and contribute their time and talents toward making things better.
I remain committed to serving my community with integrity, independence, and a practical, common-sense approach to leadership.
Issues & priorities
Property ownership represents years of hard work, sacrifice, and investment in our communities. Yet for many residents, property taxation and assessments have become increasingly difficult to understand and even more difficult to challenge. Taxpayers deserve a system that is transparent, accountable, understandable, and worthy of public trust.
Property owners should have easy access to how their property was valued: the data, the methodology, and the decisions.
Government works best when the public can easily understand how decisions are made and where public resources are being utilized. Too often, government information is difficult to locate, overly complicated, or only available to those who know exactly where to look and how to ask for it.
I believe the Assessor's Office should operate with an open-books philosophy. Property owners should have easy access to information regarding assessments, valuation methodologies, exemption programs, appeal processes, and the data used to help determine assessed values. Taxpayers should not have to navigate unnecessary barriers simply to understand how their property was valued or how decisions affecting them were made.
Transparency builds trust, encourages accountability, and empowers residents to become informed participants in their own government.
Every tax dollar represents someone's time and labor. The office should be able to explain not just what it decides, but why, and what results it produces.
Every tax dollar represents time, labor, and resources earned by the people of King County. Government should never lose sight of the fact that it is entrusted with resources that belong to the public, and with that trust comes a duty to act responsibly, transparently, and accountably.
Government agencies should be able to explain not only what decisions are being made, but also why those decisions are being made and what outcomes they are intended to achieve. Good intentions alone are not enough. Public confidence is built when government actions are measurable, understandable, and capable of withstanding public scrutiny.
Accountability is not about assigning blame. It is about building trust through openness, responsibility, and a willingness to continually evaluate whether government systems are producing fair, understandable, and effective results.
Information should be understandable to the average resident, not only to those with specialized experience navigating government systems.
Government information should not require specialized knowledge to locate, understand, or use. Property owners should be able to easily access information regarding their assessments, valuation methodologies, exemption programs, appeal rights, and the processes that directly affect them.
The Assessor's Office should prioritize clear communication, user-friendly resources, and meaningful public education regarding property assessments and taxation. An informed public is better equipped to ask questions, exercise their rights, and meaningfully participate in the assessment process.
Government serves the public best when information is not merely available, but genuinely accessible, understandable, and useful to the people it is intended to serve.
Already doing the work
Leadership isn't something I'm promising to start doing if elected. Here is the work I have already created and submitted to help taxpayers understand the system and to hold it accountable.
Featured ยท 39-page educational guide
Understanding your taxes. Protecting your property rights. A plain-English resource I wrote for Washington property owners and taxpayers. It covers how property taxes are calculated and collected, how mass appraisal really works, why appeals are so hard, and who benefits when property taxes rise.
Four formal audit requests I prepared and submitted, each documenting specific concerns with how property is assessed, appealed, and taxed in King County, with the legal basis, findings, and what an audit should examine.
Washington's Constitution requires all real property to be assessed uniformly. This request asks the County Auditor to examine whether King County performs complete, USPAP-compliant ratio studies for every property class, including vacant and rural land, and whether rural and unincorporated areas are being disproportionately overvalued.
Read the full request (PDF)State law says assessments must reflect "true and fair value." Using the Assessor's own written responses as evidence, this request questions whether relying on "market-prepped" sales, MLS photos, and subjective judgments, without inspections or USPAP-compliant methods, meets that standard.
Read the full request (PDF)Neighboring levy codes in King County can differ by roughly 80% in total tax rate on the same class of property. This request examines whether overlapping levies, repeated lid lifts, and bond levies that never seem to expire have created a workaround to the constitutional 1% limit.
Read the full request (PDF)Multi-year delays, template denials, and evidence standards that treat taxpayer comparables differently than the County's own. This request asks whether King County's appeals process gives property owners a genuine, meaningful opportunity to contest their assessed value.
Read the full request (PDF)FAQ
Clear, concise answers to the questions voters ask most about the campaign, the office, and property taxes.
I am running because I have personally experienced how difficult and frustrating our property tax system can be to understand and navigate. Through property tax appeals, reviewing assessment data, and researching mass appraisal practices, I became increasingly concerned about the lack of transparency, accountability, consistency, and meaningful due process within the current system.
I am not a career politician. I am a small business owner, property owner, and taxpayer who believes residents deserve an Assessor's Office that is transparent, responsive, and committed to the fair and consistent application of standards. I believe we first have to acknowledge where our system falls short before we can begin improving it. My goal is to restore public trust by putting taxpayers first.
The King County Assessor is responsible for identifying, listing, and valuing all taxable real and personal property within King County in accordance with state law. The Assessor's Office maintains property records, administers property tax exemption programs, and determines assessed values that are used by taxing districts to calculate property taxes.
The Assessor does not set tax rates, create budgets, or determine how much money taxing districts collect. Those decisions are generally made by voters and the various taxing jurisdictions. The Assessor's responsibility is to ensure properties are assessed fairly, consistently, and in compliance with applicable laws and standards while providing taxpayers with clear information about how their properties are valued.
Not directly. The Assessor does not set tax rates, approve tax levies, adopt budgets, or decide how much money taxing districts collect. The Assessor's Office determines the assessed value of your property, and those values are then used by the various taxing districts to calculate each property's share of the tax burden.
That said, changes in assessed value can affect how the tax burden is distributed. If your property's value increases more than similar properties, your share of the overall burden may increase; if it increases less, your share may decrease. The office plays an important role in ensuring assessments are fair, accurate, transparent, and consistently applied, because assessments directly affect how the burden is allocated among taxpayers.
Assessments generally increase because the Assessor's Office is required by state law to estimate the market value of taxable property. When sale prices increase within a neighborhood or market area, assessed values often increase as well.
However, an increase in your assessed value does not automatically mean your taxes will increase by the same percentage. Property taxes are influenced by the budgets and levies adopted by taxing districts, voter-approved measures, and how your property's value changes relative to other properties. Residents deserve clear explanations of how assessments are determined and confidence that valuation methods are being applied fairly, consistently, and transparently.
I believe voters should do their own due diligence and make an informed decision based on what they see, hear, and believe. I am not asking anyone to vote for me blindly. I am asking taxpayers to look at my background, my experience with the property tax system, my advocacy for transparency and accountability, and my willingness to challenge problems directly.
If voters believe I am the candidate best suited to restore trust, fairness, and accountability to the Assessor's Office, then I would be honored to earn their vote. My campaign is about informed voters, public trust, and putting taxpayers first.
Review the Priorities section above, and the research and audit requests I have published. Property taxes and assessments can be complex, and every property owner's situation is unique. If you have questions that are not answered here or would like a more in-depth discussion, please reach out. I welcome thoughtful questions and will do my best to respond directly. An informed public is essential to good government.
Get engaged
Government accountability begins with an informed public. The more residents understand how property assessments and taxes work, the better equipped they are to ask questions, participate in their communities, and hold government accountable.
"I'm not just asking for your vote. I'm giving you the tools to better understand and participate in the system yourself."
Verify your property's characteristics, measurements, and information maintained by the Assessor's Office.
King County eReal PropertyLearn how assessed values are determined and review the information used in valuing your property.
Assessor's OfficeReview publicly available property information to see how assessments are being applied within your community.
Look up nearby parcelsExplore property tax exemption and relief programs that may apply to you or your family, including senior and disability programs.
Tax relief programsIf something does not make sense, ask. Government should be willing to explain its processes and decisions in a way the public can understand.
Ask me directlyLearn about the assessment appeal process, timelines, and what information may be relevant when questioning an assessment.
Board of EqualizationAttend public meetings, engage with your elected officials, review public information, and participate in the democratic process.
King County ElectionsNever assume that government automatically gets it right. Every property owner should review their assessment, understand their property information, and question outcomes that do not make sense. Assessment systems rely on data, assumptions, and standardized methodologies that cannot perfectly account for every property or circumstance. That is precisely why transparency, public participation, and the ability to ask questions are so important.
Know your rights. Stay informed. Get engaged, and if you believe your assessment is incorrect, absolutely appeal it.
From the blog
This isn’t just a fight over one property’s value. It raises a much bigger question: What happens when taxpayers challenge the system itself? I have been following this…
Read & commentSupport the campaign
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about my campaign for King County Assessor. This campaign is intentionally being run as a grassroots, low-cost effort focused on engaging voters, encouraging informed participation, and restoring transparency, accountability, and public trust in local government.
Every contribution, regardless of size, helps support voter outreach, informational materials, website expenses, and community engagement efforts. Whether through a financial contribution, sharing information with others, asking thoughtful questions, or simply becoming a more informed voter, your support and participation are greatly appreciated.
Dominique Scarimbolo
Candidate for King County Assessor
Scan this code in your banking app, or tap to open Zelle on your phone.
Or send to domscarimbolo@proton.me
Mail to the campaign address:
30221 148th Ave SE, Kent, WA 98042
Cash contributions may be delivered in person at the campaign address above.
Under Washington State's mini reporting requirements, contributions are limited to a maximum of $500 per individual or entity, and this campaign may raise no more than $7,000 in total contributions, excluding applicable filing fees.
Contact
I welcome thoughtful questions and will do my best to respond directly. If something on this site doesn't make sense, or you'd like a more in-depth discussion about a particular issue, reach out.