(The Center Square) – Republicans in the Washington Senate are calling a property tax measure backed by Democrats “the single most destructive and far-reaching bill of the 2024 session.”
At least that’s how Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Woolley, and a member of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, described Senate Bill 5770 in a Wednesday new release .
SB 570 would allow local governments across the state to increase property taxes by up to 3% a year without voter approval. The law currently allows only non-voter approved property tax increases of 1% a year.
Members of the Senate Republican Caucus held a press conference Thursday morning at the state Capitol, with more than 50 concerned community members filling the room.
Christina Janis is a realtor in Thurston County who said property tax prices are already too high.
“I have two out of my three adult daughters that can’t find a home they can afford in Washington,” she explained. “As a local realtor, I am active in advocacy, and I find it disheartening and actually just unbelievable that we have lawmakers that are so strongly telling us in our industry that we need affordable housing.”