A Conversation with John Wilson, King County Assessor
John is one of King County's most innovative leaders, improving government operation, increasing transparency, and impacting housing for nearly two decades.
This week, instead of my usual Zebra Report, I’d like to share with you an important interview that I recently held with Washington State King County Assessor, and long-time friend, John Wilson. John and I go back many, many years and I’ve had the honor of getting to know him and witnessing the work that he has done.
Here in the State of Washington right now we are experiencing a crisis in housing. We have never before seen the challenges that we are seeing today. Homelessness has been on the rise, safety in our cities has declined, we don’t have enough housing, and we need to make sure that people who are underserved are being taken care of. Today, John and I will be discussing the work he has been doing and some of the issues that face our state like economic homelessness, rent control, tax exemptions, commercial real estate, and more.
Now, I’ve said this many times, but I’ll say it again. I don’t care which political party someone supports, what I support is smart decision making in government. And John has made some very smart decisions over the years. I have watched him develop programs to modernize the Department of Assessments, to create tools for taxpayer transparency that allow residents to see the real dollar impacts of what their taxes are doing. Closest to my own heart, I’ve seen him more than double our state’s Senior Property Tax Exemption from $40k to $84k. That lets real money stay in seniors’ hands, allowing them to stay in their homes without being taxed out of them once their income becomes fixed.
John has spoken at past events that I have held, like our Real Estate Success Summit in years past. Every time I have reached out to him about anything, he has been the first person to respond with, “What do you need? I am here to help,” and I love that. John gets himself into the community, that’s just the kind of person that he is and I think that this is really important for anyone in government.
This interview with John was held for members of our Club Zebra subscription, but I think the information here is just too important for the public good to be kept behind our paywall. I really want you to carefully listen to this discussion and John’s thoughtful approach.
In Club Zebra we cover a lot of incredible training content drawn from my decades of experience in the field and as a coach, including interviews with other industry leaders, mailing content, tools and templates, checklists and letters, and so many other things. I encourage you to become a member and try it out for a month.
Elect John Wilson
If you would like to support John Wilson’s incredible work and see more of it, make a donation to https://electjohnwilson.com for his campaign to become the next King County Executive.
By Denise Lones CSP, CMP, M.I.R.M.
The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones has over three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development and more, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.