Drafter
Clerk 09/29/2020
Title
A MOTION concerning applicants for property tax exemptions for property taxes payable in 2020.
Body
WHEREAS, all real and personal property in Washington state is subject to property tax each year based on its value, unless a specific exemption is provided, and
WHEREAS, in 1966, Washington state voters approved an amendment to the state constitution giving the legislature the power to grant to retired property owners relief from the property tax on real property occupied as a residence by those owners, and
WHEREAS, the constitutional amendment allowed the Washington state Legislature to place restrictions and conditions on such relief, and
WHEREAS, the Legislature granted property tax relief on principal residences of senior citizens and persons retired by reason of disability if they met certain income requirements, and
WHEREAS, in 2019, the Legislature passed engrossed substitute senate bill 5160, which changed income eligibility limits for property tax exemptions for service-connected disabled veterans and senior citizens from fixed thresholds to thresholds indexed to each county's median income, and
WHEREAS, the new income eligibility limit for King County based on 2019 earnings has expanded eligibility for service-connected disabled veterans and senior citizens, and
WHEREAS, the King County assessor has received more than nine thousand applications for property tax exemptions in 2020, which is more than three times the number of applications in recent prior years, and
WHEREAS, approximately four thousand four hundred applications have not yet been processed, and
WHEREAS, under RCW 84.56.020, the deadline for paying second-half property taxes is October 31, and delinquent taxes are subject to interest at the rate of twelve percent per annum, and
WHEREAS, under RCW 84.56.020, during a state of emergency declared under RCW 43.06.010, the county treasurer, on his or her own motion or at the request of any taxpayer aff...

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