(The Center Square) – Proponents and opponents of a property tax reform bill had their say Friday morning at a public hearing before the Washington State House Finance Committee.
Senate Bill 6162, which passed the Senate earlier this month on a 41-8 vote, would expand and streamline property tax relief for senior citizens, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in Washington.
Key provisions of SB 6162 include increasing income thresholds for exemption programs by 10 to 15 percentage points, consolidating state school levies, and introducing a standard deduction option for income calculation.
The bill is designed to be revenue-neutral, shifting approximately $200 million per year in taxes from qualified individuals to the rest of the tax-paying public. It is estimated to expand property tax exemptions to approximately 30,000 additional people.
Sen. Deb Krishnadason, D-Gig Harbor, is the prime sponsor of the bill.
“Really, at the core of this legislation, it’s bringing and strengthening critically important property tax exemptions to our most vulnerable, our low income, fixed-income seniors, disabled persons and disable veterans,” she told the committee. “And it will help so many … so that they can stay in their homes where they raise their children and see their grandchildren take those first steps.”
Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Marty Campbell said simplifying the application process will help him do his job.
“I surge support of Senate Bill 6162, and thank you for your time,” he told the committee.
He was not troubled by the potential loss of local revenue under the bill.
According to the legislation’s fiscal note, there will be a decrease in local revenues, estimated at $4.6 million in fiscal year 2027 and $8.8 million in fiscal year 2028, which would be the first full year of impact, assuming the bill passes.
“As far as the local revenue, I think it all evens out as we go forward, but that would be more for the [Pierce County] Council side to manage as far as process and how we manage in our office,” Campbell said. “This is a huge step forward in both internal processes and making sure that we are expanding needed deductions.”
Others weren’t so sure about SB 6162.
Eric Lundberg is a pastor at Living Word Lutheran Church in Graham who described himself as a “fifth-generation taxpayer.”
He told the committee his father, a 78-year-old disable Vietnam War combat veteran, moved to Arizona where property taxes are much cheaper, noting the proposed legislation does not exempt combat veterans from all property taxes, “only excess property taxes” and then went on to say that “our state is so out of control in their spending …”
Anti-tax activist Tim Eyman was similarly unimpressed by the bill.
“The property tax is a unique tax,” he said. “You’re going to get a fixed amount of money, and every time you take somebody off, you’re making everybody else pay more. It is just so maddening that you can’t just reduce taxes on your own.”
Eyman then got in a not-so-veiled reference to House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, who admitted he was intoxicated during a Wednesday House Appropriations Committee meeting.
“For the record, I’m Tim Eyman, and I’m not a bot and I’m not drunk,” he told the committee.
