AN
ACT Relating to property tax exemptions and deferrals for senior citizens and
persons retired for reasons of physical disability; amending RCW 84.36.381,
84.36.383, and 84.38.020; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
84.36.381 and 1996 c 146 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
the time of filing: 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;
(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 assessment 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 assessment year by reason of the death of the person's spouse, or when
other substantial changes occur in disposable income that are likely to
continue for an indefinite period of time, the combined disposable income of
such person shall be calculated by multiplying the average monthly combined
disposable income of such person after such occurrences by twelve. If it is
necessary to estimate income to comply with this subsection, the assessor may
require confirming documentation of such income prior to May 31 of the year
following application;
(5)(a)
A person who otherwise qualifies under this section and has a combined
disposable income of ((twenty-eight)) thirty 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)) twenty-four thousand dollars or
less but greater than ((fifteen)) eighteen thousand dollars shall
be exempt from all regular property taxes on the greater of ((thirty)) forty
thousand dollars or ((thirty)) thirty-five percent of the
valuation of his or her residence, but not to exceed ((fifty)) sixty
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)) eighteen thousand dollars or
less shall be exempt from all regular property taxes on the greater of ((thirty-four))
fifty thousand dollars or ((fifty)) sixty percent of the
valuation of his or her residence; and
(6)
For a person who otherwise qualifies under this section and has a combined
disposable income of ((twenty-eight)) thirty thousand dollars or
less, the valuation of the residence shall be the assessed value of the
residence on the later of January 1, 1995, or January 1st of the assessment
year the person first qualifies under this section. If the person subsequently
fails to qualify under this section only for one year because of high income,
this same valuation shall be used upon requalification. If the person fails to
qualify for more than one year in succession because of high income or fails to
qualify for any other reason, the valuation upon requalification shall be the
assessed value on January 1st of the assessment year in which the person
requalifies. If the person transfers the exemption under this section to a different
residence, the valuation of the different residence shall be the assessed value
of the different residence on January 1st of the assessment year in which the
person transfers the exemption.
In
no event may the valuation under this subsection be greater than the true and
fair value of the residence on January 1st of the assessment year.
This
subsection does not apply to subsequent improvements to the property in the
year in which the improvements are made. Subsequent improvements to the
property shall be added to the value otherwise determined under this subsection
at their true and fair value in the year in which they are made.
Sec.
2. RCW
84.36.383 and 1995 1st sp.s. c 8 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
As
used in RCW 84.36.381 through 84.36.389, except where the context clearly
indicates a different meaning:
(1)
The term "residence" shall mean a single family dwelling unit whether
such unit be separate or part of a multiunit dwelling, including the land on
which such dwelling stands not to exceed one acre, except that a residence
includes any additional property up to a total of five acres that comprises the
residential parcel if this larger parcel size is required under land use
regulations. The term shall also include a share ownership in a
cooperative housing association, corporation, or partnership if the person
claiming exemption can establish that his or her share represents the specific
unit or portion of such structure in which he or she resides. The term shall
also include a single family dwelling situated upon lands the fee of which is
vested in the United States or any instrumentality thereof including an Indian
tribe or in the state of Washington, and notwithstanding the provisions of RCW
84.04.080 and 84.04.090, such a residence shall be deemed real property.
(2)
The term "real property" shall also include a mobile home which has
substantially lost its identity as a mobile unit by virtue of its being fixed
in location upon land owned or leased by the owner of the mobile home and
placed on a foundation (posts or blocks) with fixed pipe, connections with
sewer, water, or other utilities: PROVIDED, That a mobile home located on land
leased by the owner of the mobile home shall be subject, for tax billing,
payment, and collection purposes, only to the personal property provisions of
chapter 84.56 RCW and RCW 84.60.040.
(3)
"Department" shall mean the state department of revenue.
(4)
"Combined disposable income" means the disposable income of the
person claiming the exemption, plus the disposable income of his or her spouse,
and the disposable income of each cotenant occupying the residence for the
assessment year, less amounts paid by the person claiming the exemption or his
or her spouse during the assessment year for:
(a)
Drugs supplied by prescription of a medical practitioner authorized by the laws
of this state or another jurisdiction to issue prescriptions; ((and))
(b)
The treatment or care of either person received in the home or in a nursing
home; and
(c)
Health care insurance of either person, including any deduction for medicare
under Title XVIII of the social security act.
(5)
"Disposable income" means adjusted gross income as defined in the
federal internal revenue code, as amended prior to January 1, 1989, or such
subsequent date as the director may provide by rule consistent with the purpose
of this section, plus all of the following items to the extent they are not
included in or have been deducted from adjusted gross income:
(a)
Capital gains, other than ((nonrecognized gain on the sale of a principal
residence under section 1034 of the federal internal revenue code, or))
gain excluded from income under section 121 of the federal internal revenue
code to the extent it is reinvested in a new principal residence;
(b)
Amounts deducted for loss;
(c)
Amounts deducted for depreciation;
(d)
Pension and annuity receipts;
(e)
Military pay and benefits other than attendant-care and medical-aid payments;
(f)
Veterans benefits other than attendant-care and medical-aid payments and
benefits for disabilities related to the performance of military duties;
(g)
Federal social security act and railroad retirement benefits;
(h)
Dividend receipts; and
(i)
Interest received on state and municipal bonds.
(6)
"Cotenant" means a person who resides with the person claiming the
exemption and who has an ownership interest in the residence.
Sec.
3. RCW
84.38.020 and 1997 c 93 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless
a different meaning is plainly required by the context, the following words and
phrases as hereinafter used in this chapter shall have the following meanings:
(1)
"Claimant" means a person who either elects or is required under RCW
84.64.050 to defer payment of the special assessments and/or real property
taxes accrued on the claimant's residence by filing a declaration to defer as
provided by this chapter.
When
two or more individuals of a household file or seek to file a declaration to
defer, they may determine between them as to who the claimant shall be.
(2)
"Department" means the state department of revenue.
(3)
"Equity value" means the amount by which the fair market value of a
residence as determined from the records of the county assessor exceeds the
total amount of any liens or other obligations against the property.
(4)
"Local government" means any city, town, county, water-sewer
district, public utility district, port district, irrigation district, flood
control district, or any other municipal corporation, quasi-municipal
corporation, or other political subdivision authorized to levy special
assessments.
(5)
"Real property taxes" means ad valorem property taxes levied on a
residence in this state in the preceding calendar year.
(6)
"Residence" has the meaning given in RCW 84.36.383((, except that
a residence includes any additional property up to a total of five acres that
comprises the residential parcel if this larger parcel size is required under
land use regulations)).
(7)
"Special assessment" means the charge or obligation imposed by a
local government upon property specially benefited.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This
act applies to taxes levied for collection in 1999 and thereafter.
