Senate Eases Up On Property Tax Limit Bill Amendments Lessen Impact Local Government Budgets
Facing opposition from party colleagues, Senate Republican leaders on Thursday made their broad property tax cut measure less costly for local governments and prepared to send the bill to the House.
The bill, SB5212, would put new limits on increasing property tax rates and assessments. Moving with unusual haste, the GOP-led Senate plans to vote and send it to the Republican House today.
Even as amended, the measure would save taxpayers increasing sums over the coming years, beginning with an estimated $36 on a $100,000 house next year. Combined with a tax-cut measure sent to the governor Wednesday, that same homeowner would save about $54 next year, and $260 by 2001, backers said.
In other action Thursday, Gov. Gary Locke, as promised, signed into law the earlier tax cut measure, HB1417, only hours after it hit his desk. The bill would mean a cut of about $18 a year to the owner of a $100,000 home. Locke said he hoped the modest reduction would be just a start in granting homeowners property tax relief this year.
The Senate measure facing floor vote was heavily amended by the full chamber at the insistence of Sen. Shirley Winsley, R-Tacoma, and a few other Republicans, who said it would severely damage local government budgets.
Republican House leaders later called the amended measure a reasonable approach. Locke, a Democrat, said he hadn’t seen the legislation and could not comment.
As amended, the measure would:
Exempt counties, cities and other taxing districts with populations under 10,100 from all provisions of the bill.
Require the governing bodies of all taxing entities with more than 10,000 people to vote by a simple majority to raise the property tax rate at all, and by a “super-majority” to raise the rate beyond the annual inflation rate, up to a maximum of 6 percent.
As is the case now, a vote of the people would be required to raise the rate above 6 percent. Before being amended, the measure would have allowed taxing districts to automatically raises rates to the inflation rate, and would have required voter approval to go up to 6 percent.
“These provisions will put the spotlight on local governments to step up and take a vote when they want to raise taxes, and we think it will lower taxes,” said Senate budget chief Jim West, R-Spokane.
Continue to allow taxing districts to tax new construction above the 6 percent limit. The original bill would have allowed only 50 percent of new construction to be taxed above the limit.
The measure left intact a provision, called “valuation smoothing” that allows taxpayers to gradually pay higher taxes over several years when their tax bills soar because of sudden spikes in assessed values of their properties.
The amendments passed over the objections of Democrats, who said they made a bad bill even worse. They said it was wrong to exempt taxing entities of fewer than 10,000 people.
“We have elderly people in those taxing districts who need relief, too,” said Sen. Julia Patterson, D-Seatac.