S-0272.1                   _______________________________________________

                                                     SENATE BILL 5029

                              _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By Senators Haugen, Winsley, Skratek, Erwin, Vognild, Gaspard, Prentice, Quigley and McAuliffe

Read first time 01/11/93.  Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

Allowing senior citizens to defer increased property taxes.

          AN ACT Relating to deferral of property tax increases by senior citizens; adding a new section to chapter 84.38 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 84.38 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) A senior citizen may defer a portion of property tax  increases that exceed inflation, as determined under this section.  The portion of property taxes eligible for deferral under this section for a year equals the amount by which the taxes due on the property for the current year exceed the sum of the following:

          (a) The amount of taxes due for the previous year;

          (b) The increased amount of taxes attributable to any physical improvements made to the property; and

          (c) The increased amount of taxes attributable to inflation, as calculated using an inflation index provided by the department.

          (2) For taxes to be deferred under this section, the following conditions must be met:

          (a) The claimant must be sixty-five years of age or older on January 1st of the year in which the taxes are due.

          (b) The property taxes must have been imposed upon a residence that was occupied by the claimant as a principal place of residence as of January 1st of the year in which the taxes are due, subject to the exceptions allowed under RCW 84.36.381(1).

          (c) The total amount deferred by a claimant under this section and RCW 84.38.030 must not exceed eighty percent of the claimant's equity value in the claimant's residence.

          (d) The claimant must meet the conditions of RCW 84.38.030(3) through (5).

          (3) The department shall annually provide an inflation index or indexes that are appropriate for use in measuring increases in the cost of living.  The department may base the index or indexes upon recognized measures of inflation, including but not limited to the consumer price index as published by the bureau of labor statistics of the federal department of labor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  Section 1 of this act shall be effective for taxes levied for collection in 1994 and thereafter.

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