Burien homeowners should be paying a bit less in property taxes next year, finance director Kim Krause announced at the Nov. 14 City Council meeting.

This is because the preliminary assessed valuation from King County shows that property values in Burien have gone down 9.23 percent, she noted. Due to the reduction, Burien can only collect $1.60 per 1,000 of assessed value thus lowering total 2012 property taxes to about $467,000 less than collected for 2011.

Staff is recommending that the council change allocations of the property tax revenue so that 90 percent goes into general fund and 10 percent into the capitol projects reserve fund. Currently, the split is 80/20.

Adjustments to the biennial budget for 2012 would include using 8 percent of the general fund balance over the two-year period. That would amount to $262,000 or 8 percent over that time period. The ending fund balance would still be in excess of $3 million, City Manger Mike Martin noted.

The City Council will hold another public hearing on the budget on Oct. 28. Following the hearing, the council is expected to set the 2012 property tax levy and approve amendments to the biennial budget.