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                      SUBSTITUTE HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 4205

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State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By House Committee on Revenue (originally sponsored by Representatives Winsley, Wang, Ballard, Leonard, Mitchell, Nelson, Ebersole, Franklin, Bowman, Jones, R. Johnson, Jacobsen, Betrozoff, Fraser, R. King, Phillips, Brekke, Inslee, Spanel, Rasmussen and Anderson).

Read first time February 21, 1991.  Amending the Constitution to allow property devoted to low‑income housing to be taxed based on its current use value.

     BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:

     THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article VII, section 11 of the Constitution of the state of Washington to read as follows:

     Article VII, section 11.  Nothing in this Article VII as amended shall prevent the legislature from providing, subject to such conditions as it may enact, that the true and fair value in money (a) of farms, agricultural lands, standing timber, and timberlands, ((and)) (b) of other open space lands ((which)) that are used for recreation or for enjoyment of their scenic or natural beauty, or (c) of properties with dwelling units that comply with health and safety standards, are devoted to low‑income housing, and contain three or more low‑income dwelling units, shall be based on the use to which such property is currently applied, and such values shall be used in computing the assessed valuation of such property in the same manner as the assessed valuation is computed for all property.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the attorney general shall consider the following suggested language when drafting the ballot title for this measure:  "Shall a constitutional amendment permit reducing property taxes to current use for qualified low-income housing containing three or more units?"

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.