The Parcel ID is assigned by the Assessor’s Office to keep track of all property accounts for which it has to assign value for tax purposes. The parcel ID’s are between 5 and 9 characters long. Most of the parcel ID’s correspond to a property boundary on the tax maps. There are a few exceptions to this, where parcel ID’s are created to generate a tax statement only, and they don’t have a corresponding “boundary” on a tax map (i.e. senior citizen exemptions, designated forest land, improvement values only, etc.). Note – these parcel ID’s are generally referred to as parcel numbers, even though some of them are alphanumeric.
Parcel ID’s that are all numeric (i.e. 05245, 205000100, 6302703) are generally located inside a city limits boundary, or inside a DLC (Donation Land Claim) boundary. Parcel ID’s that are alphanumeric (i.e. WC2801003, EB0604002) are generally in the unincorporated portions of the county.
There is a loose association between parcel numbers and their corresponding geographic location. Parcel numbers beginning with “0” or “1” are generally on Longview. Parcel numbers beginning with “2” are in Kelso. Parcel numbers beginning with “3” are in Castle Rock. Parcel numbers beginning with “4” are in Kalama. Parcel numbers beginning with “5” are in Woodland. Parcel numbers beginning with a “6” are inside a DLC. Parcel numbers beginning with a “7” or an “8” are mobile homes. Parcel numbers beginning with a “9” are personal property.
Alphanumeric parcel ID’s are 9 characters long. The first 2 characters are alpha, and the last 7 characters are numeric. The first character will be a “W” or an “E” (West or East), which designates the parcels RANGE location (which side of the Willamette Meridian the parcel is located) based on the PLS (Public Land Survey) grid provided by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The second alpha character is the designation for the township and range in which the parcel is located, based on the PLS. The first 2 numeric characters designate the PLS section number, the next 2 numeric characters designate the 1/16 quarter of the section, and the last 3 numeric characters are the sequence order of the parcel’s creation. This parcel numbering system has not been strictly maintained, so there are many exceptions.
See the list below for the geographic correspondence:
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