Many Washington families statewide continue to struggle with the high prices of fuel, food, utilities, housing and more. No one reading the “room” that is our state would say property taxes are too low.
Enter the 20 Senate Democrats who want to lift the voter-endorsed, bipartisan 1% cap on the allowable annual growth rate of property taxes.
As filed, their Senate Bill 5770 would raise the allowable growth rate to 3% annually for both state and local property taxes. That would cost about $12 billion over the next decade.
The “substitute” version that came before our Senate Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 18 would apply only to local property taxes. It would take about $6 billion out of the economy in the next decade.
Both versions run counter to the property tax relief Republicans have proposed to lower the cost of living and make homeownership and rent more affordable.
People may go online to express their support or opposition to a bill once it’s scheduled for a public hearing. Of all the bills to come before Senate committees in the first two weeks of the 2024 session, none attracted more opposition than SB 5770.