AN ACT Relating to
property taxation; instituting annual renewal fees for organizations that
receive a property tax exemption; providing a good cause exception to the
filing deadline for petitions to boards of equalization; amending RCW
84.36.815, 84.36.825, 82.03.130, and 84.40.038; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 84.36.815 and 1991
sp.s. c 29 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
In order to qualify for
exempt status for any real or personal property under this chapter except
personal property under RCW 84.36.600, all foreign national governments,
churches, cemeteries, nongovernmental nonprofit corporations, organizations,
and associations, private schools or colleges, and soil and water conservation
districts shall file an initial application on or before March 31 with the
state department of revenue. All applications shall be filed on forms
prescribed by the department and shall be signed by an authorized agent of the
applicant.
In order to requalify
for exempt status, such applicants except nonprofit cemeteries shall file ((a))
an annual renewal ((application)) declaration on or before
March 31 ((of the fourth)) each year ((following the date of
such initial application and on or before March 31 of every fourth year
thereafter. An applicant previously granted exemption shall annually file, on
forms prescribed by the department,)). The renewal declaration shall be
on forms prescribed by the department of revenue and shall contain an
affidavit certifying the exempt status of the real or personal property owned
by the exempt organization. When an organization acquires real property
qualified for exemption or converts real property to exempt status, such
organization shall file an initial application for the property within sixty
days following the acquisition or conversion. If the application is filed
after the expiration of the sixty-day period a late filing penalty shall be
imposed pursuant to RCW 84.36.825, as now or hereafter amended.
When organizations
acquire real property qualified for exemption or convert real property to an
exempt use, the property, upon approval of the application for exemption, is
entitled to a property tax exemption for property taxes due and payable the
following year. If the owner has paid taxes for the year following the year
the property qualified for exemption, the owner is entitled to a refund of the
amount paid on the property so acquired or converted.
Sec. 2. RCW 84.36.825 and 1977
ex.s. c 209 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
An application fee of
thirty-five dollars for each initial application and eight dollars
and seventy-five cents for each annual renewal ((application)) declaration
shall be required and shall be deposited within the general fund((:
PROVIDED, That)). The department of revenue may waive the
application or declaration fee related to the property of any church or
cemetery applying for exemption under the provisions of RCW 84.36.020 whose
gross receipts related to the use of such property for exempt purposes did not
exceed two thousand five hundred dollars during the calendar year preceding the
application year. Applications made for assessment year 1974, if approved,
shall be considered initial applications whether or not an exemption has
previously been approved. A late filing penalty of ten dollars per month for
each month an application or declaration is past due shall be required
and shall be deposited in the general fund.
Sec. 3. RCW 82.03.130 and 1992 c
206 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
The board shall have
jurisdiction to decide the following types of appeals:
(1) Appeals taken
pursuant to RCW 82.03.190.
(2) Appeals from a
county board of equalization pursuant to RCW 84.08.130.
(3) Appeals by an
assessor or landowner from an order of the director of revenue made pursuant to
RCW 84.08.010 and 84.08.060, if filed with the board of tax appeals within
thirty days after the mailing of the order, the right to such an appeal being
hereby established.
(4) Appeals by an
assessor or owner of an intercounty public utility or private car company from
determinations by the director of revenue of equalized assessed valuation of
property and the apportionment thereof to a county made pursuant to chapter
84.12 RCW and 84.16 RCW, if filed with the board of tax appeals within thirty
days after mailing of the determination, the right to such appeal being hereby
established.
(5) Appeals by an
assessor, landowner, or owner of an intercounty public utility or private car
company from a determination of any county indicated ratio for such county
compiled by the department of revenue pursuant to RCW 84.48.075: PROVIDED,
That
(a) Said appeal be
filed after review of the ratio under RCW 84.48.075(3) and not later than
fifteen days after the mailing of the certification; and
(b) The hearing before
the board shall be expeditiously held in accordance with rules prescribed by
the board and shall take precedence over all matters of the same character.
(6) Appeals from the
decisions of sale price of second class shorelands on navigable lakes by the
department of natural resources pursuant to RCW 79.94.210.
(7) Appeals from urban
redevelopment property tax apportionment district proposals established by
governmental ordinances pursuant to RCW 39.88.060.
(8) Appeals from
interest rates as determined by the department of revenue for use in valuing
farmland under current use assessment pursuant to RCW 84.34.065.
(9) Appeals from
revisions to stumpage value tables used to determine value by the department of
revenue pursuant to RCW 84.33.091.
(10) Appeals from
denial of tax exemption application by the department of revenue pursuant to RCW
84.36.850.
(11) Appeals pursuant
to RCW 84.40.038(((2)))(3).
Sec. 4. RCW 84.40.038 and 1992 c
206 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The owner or person
responsible for payment of taxes on any property may petition the county board
of equalization for a change in the assessed valuation placed upon such
property by the county assessor. Such petition must be made on forms
prescribed or approved by the department of revenue and any petition not
conforming to those requirements or not properly completed shall not be
considered by the board. The petition must be filed with the board on or
before July 1st of the year of the assessment or within thirty days after the
date an assessment or value change notice has been mailed, whichever is later.
(2) The board of
equalization may waive the filing deadline if the petition is filed within a
reasonable time after the filing deadline and the petitioner shows good cause
for the late filing. The decision of the board of equalization regarding a
waiver of the filing deadline is final and not appealable under RCW 84.08.130.
Good cause may be shown by one or more of the following events or
circumstances:
(a) Death or serious
illness of the taxpayer or his or her immediate family;
(b) The taxpayer was
absent from the address where the taxpayer normally receives the assessment or
value change notice, was absent for more than fifteen of the thirty days prior
to the filing deadline, and the filing deadline is after July 1;
(c) Incorrect
written advice regarding filing requirements received from board of
equalization staff, county assessor's staff, or staff of the property tax
advisor designated under RCW 84.48.140;
(d) Natural disaster
such as flood or earthquake;
(e) Delay or loss
related to the delivery of the petition by the postal service, and documented
by the postal service; or
(f) Other
circumstances as the department may provide by rule.
(3) The owner or
person responsible for payment of taxes on any property may request that the
appeal be heard by the state board of tax appeals without a hearing by the
county board of equalization when the assessor, the owner or person responsible
for payment of taxes on the property, and a majority of the county board of
equalization agree that a direct appeal to the state board of tax appeals is
appropriate. The state board of tax appeals may reject the appeal, in which
case the county board of equalization shall consider the appeal under RCW
84.48.010. Notice of such a rejection, together with the reason therefor,
shall be provided to the affected parties and the county board of equalization
within thirty days of receipt of the direct appeal by the state board.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. This act shall be effective
for taxes levied for collection in 1995 and thereafter.
