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HOUSE
BILL 1530
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Passed
Legislature - 1993 Regular Session
State of Washington 53rd
Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/29/93. Referred to Committee on
Revenue.
Providing for continuation of property tax
exemptions for senior citizens confined in hospitals and nursing homes.
AN ACT Relating to property tax exemptions for
retired persons confined to hospitals and nursing homes; amending RCW
84.36.381; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1.
RCW 84.36.381 and 1992 c 187 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
A person shall be exempt from any legal
obligation to pay all or a portion of the amount of excess and regular real
property taxes due and payable in the year following the year in which a claim
is filed, and thereafter, in accordance with the following:
(1) The property taxes must have been imposed
upon a residence which was occupied by the person claiming the exemption as a
principal place of residence as of January 1st of the year for which the exemption
is claimed: PROVIDED, That any person who sells, transfers, or is displaced
from his or her residence may transfer his or her exemption status to a
replacement residence, but no claimant shall receive an exemption on more than
one residence in any year: PROVIDED FURTHER, That confinement of the person to
a hospital or nursing home shall not disqualify the claim of exemption if:
(a) The residence is temporarily
unoccupied ((or if));
(b) The residence is occupied by a
spouse and/or a person financially dependent on the claimant for support; or
(c) The residence is rented for the purpose
of paying nursing home or hospital costs;
(2) The person claiming the exemption must have
owned, at the time of filing, in fee, as a life estate, or by contract
purchase, the residence on which the property taxes have been imposed or if the
person claiming the exemption lives in a cooperative housing association,
corporation, or partnership, such person must own a share therein representing
the unit or portion of the structure in which he or she resides. For purposes
of this subsection, a residence owned by a marital community or owned by
cotenants shall be deemed to be owned by each spouse or cotenant, and any lease
for life shall be deemed a life estate;
(3) The person claiming the exemption must be
sixty-one years of age or older on December 31st of the year in which the
exemption claim is filed, or must have been, at the time of filing, retired
from regular gainful employment by reason of physical disability: PROVIDED,
That any surviving spouse of a person who was receiving an exemption at the
time of the person's death shall qualify if the surviving spouse is fifty-seven
years of age or older and otherwise meets the requirements of this section;
(4) The amount that the person shall be exempt
from an obligation to pay shall be calculated on the basis of combined
disposable income, as defined in RCW 84.36.383. If the person claiming the
exemption was retired for two months or more of the preceding year, the
combined disposable income of such person shall be calculated by multiplying
the average monthly combined disposable income of such person during the months
such person was retired by twelve. If the income of the person claiming
exemption is reduced for two or more months of the preceding year by reason of
the death of the person's spouse, the combined disposable income of such person
shall be calculated by multiplying the average monthly combined disposable
income of such person after the death of the spouse by twelve.
(5)(a) A person who otherwise qualifies under
this section and has a combined disposable income of twenty-six thousand
dollars or less shall be exempt from all excess property taxes; and
(b)(i) A person who otherwise qualifies under
this section and has a combined disposable income of eighteen thousand dollars
or less but greater than fifteen thousand dollars shall be exempt from all
regular property taxes on the greater of thirty thousand dollars or thirty
percent of the valuation of his or her residence, but not to exceed fifty
thousand dollars of the valuation of his or her residence; or
(ii) A person who otherwise qualifies under
this section and has a combined disposable income of fifteen thousand dollars
or less shall be exempt from all regular property taxes on the greater of
thirty-four thousand dollars or fifty percent of the valuation of his or her
residence.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.
This act shall be effective for taxes levied for collection in 1993 and
thereafter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.
This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and shall take effect immediately.
