The Washington State Legislature will not move forward on a proposal that would have allowed cities and counties to increase property tax rates by 3% without voter approval.
“It’s not going to advance this year,” Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, author of Senate Bill 5770, told the Washington State Standard on Friday.
During a Jan. 18 committee hearing, Pedersen said the bill would have given local governments “something that more closely approximates inflation and population growth, and allows them to keep up with the needs of our growing population.”
However, on Friday, Pederson told The Washington Standard, “We need to do the work and the reality is that given the voter mood and the initiatives we were not ready to fix that policy.”
The move comes after Senate Republicans held an all-hands-on-deck press conference on the proposal Thursday morning. More than 90% of those who testified on the legislation during the Jan. 18 hearing did so against it.
“This is a win for the people of Washington. Senate Bill 5770 could have resulted in the largest property tax increase in our state’s history — without a vote of the people. This bill is overwhelmingly unpopular,” Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said in a statement Friday. “People can’t afford a 3% annual increase in their property taxes. And renters can’t afford another tax that could push them out on the street. I’d like to think Democrats are starting to listen to people’s very real concerns.”