Thurston County facilities are now open to the public with restrictions, including maintaining physical distancing of at least six feet at all times and, per the Washington State Secretary of Health’s face covering order wearing a cloth face covering or mask. If you come to county facilities, please be prepared for potentially long wait times or lines due to distancing guidelines. We continue to encourage residents to access county services online, by phone, by email, or through the use of drop boxes located outside of county buildings.
The availability of remote services vary by office and department.

Click here for office and department contact information
Click here for information on COVID-19

Quick Links
BOE Home
Assessment Appeals
Appeal Process
Preparing an Appeal
Frequently Asked Questions
Forms
Board Decisions
Other Resources
Business Meetings Schedule
About the Board of Equalization

Please note the following NEW practices have been established as a result of the current health pandemic and the need for physical distancing:

   *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

​The Thurston County Board of Equalization is a quasi-judicial board comprised of three citizen members who are appointed for three-year terms by the Thurston County Commissioners. Three alternate members are also appointed by the County Commissioners to serve when regular Board members are absent. The Board is established by the laws of Washington State and governed by the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR), pursuant to RCW 84.08.020 and 84.08.060.

The Board is separate from and operates independently of the Thurston County Assessor. It adjudicates appeals of assessed property valuations and other determinations of the Assessor, with a goal of providing an impartial and economical forum to hear and decide appeals brought by taxpayers. The Board is also responsible for equalizing the assessed values so that all real and personal properties in Thurston County are assessed equitably at 100 percent of their true and fair value, with comparable properties assessed at comparable values.

Hearings of the Board are open to the public except for confidential proceedings involving proprietary business information. Hearings are held during business hours, usually in Building One, Room 152 of the Thurston County Courthouse, located at 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW in Olympia.

The Board’s Clerk and staff are employees of Thurston County; however, they perform their duties under the direction, and serve at the pleasure, of the Board, pursuant to RCW 84.48.028.

Current members of the Board are:
Bob Hastings, Chairman 
Diane Pust, Vice Chair 
John Morrison

Alternate Members of the Board are:
John Graver 
Ted May 
Lee Ruddy

 

Customer Service Hours

Effective September 28 through October 23 (filing deadline) our customer service hours will be:

Mondays 11 am to 2 pm
     and
Fridays 9 am to 12 pm 

You may also contact our office to make an appointment for consultation and document review. Our office will be following COVID-19 guidelines. Please see details in our Customer Service handout.

Please call 360-786-5135, TDD call 711 or 1-800-833-6388, or email Ruth Elder to request an appointment with the BOE staff.

Star.jpg The Thurston County BOE is NOW accepting petitions and supplemental information online.

To ensure your online submission gets appropriately processed, use one of the following links to attach your PDF readable documents for either a new 2020 petition, or for additional information on an existing 2019 or 2020 appeal. Please do not attempt to electronically submit documents through a different email or by any other method.

*NEW* Submit NEW Petition 

*NEW* Submit Supplemental Info 

Paper copies of Petition forms or other documents can continue to be mailed to the Thurston County Board of Equalization, 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia WA 98502-6045, deposited in the drop box outside of our office (Building 4, Room 117, located at 929 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia), or deposited in the main courthouse complex drop box on the circular drive nearest to Building 1.

Staff Contact

Ruth Elder, Clerk / Manager
Board of Equalization

Phone

Office: 360-786-5135
TTY/TDD: 711 or 1-800-833-6388

Email Ruth Elder

Mailing Address

2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Olympia, WA 98502-6045

Street Address (Map)

County Building 4,
Room 117
929 Lakeridge Drive SW
Olympia, WA 98502

Meeting Location (Map)

County Building 1
Room 152
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Olympia, WA 98502