BILL REQ. #:  H-0281.1 

Read first time 01/21/09.   Referred to Committee on Finance.

     AN ACT Relating to property tax deferral eligibility for senior citizens and persons retired because of disability; and amending RCW 84.38.030.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 84.38.030 and 2008 c 6 s 702 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) If the conditions in subsections (2) through (6) of this section are met:
     (a) A claimant with a disposable income of forty thousand dollars or less may defer payment of special assessments and/or real property taxes on up to eighty percent of the amount of the claimant's equity value in the claimant's residence ((if the following conditions are met:
     (1))); or
     (b) A claimant with a disposable income of more than forty thousand dollars, but less than or equal to one hundred thousand dollars, may defer payment of special assessments and/or real property taxes on up to the lesser of: (i) Eighty percent of the amount of the claimant's equity value in the claimant's residence; or (ii) two hundred thousand dollars of the claimant's equity value in the claimant's residence.
     (2) The claimant must meet all requirements for an exemption for the residence under RCW 84.36.381, other than the age and income limits under RCW 84.36.381.
     (((2))) (3) The claimant must be sixty years of age or older on December 31st of the year in which the deferral 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 or surviving domestic partner of a person who was receiving a deferral at the time of the person's death shall qualify if the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner is fifty-seven years of age or older and otherwise meets the requirements of this section.
     (((3) The claimant must have a combined disposable income, as defined in RCW 84.36.383, of forty thousand dollars or less.))
     (4) The claimant must have owned, at the time of filing, the residence on which the special assessment and/or real property taxes have been imposed. For purposes of this subsection, a residence owned by a marital community, owned by domestic partners, or owned by cotenants shall be deemed to be owned by each spouse, each domestic partner, or each cotenant. A claimant who has only a share ownership in cooperative housing, a life estate, a lease for life, or a revocable trust does not satisfy the ownership requirement.
     (5) The claimant must have and keep in force fire and casualty insurance in sufficient amount to protect the interest of the state in the claimant's equity value: PROVIDED, That if the claimant fails to keep fire and casualty insurance in force to the extent of the state's interest in the claimant's equity value, the amount deferred shall not exceed one hundred percent of the claimant's equity value in the land or lot only.
     (6) In the case of special assessment deferral, the claimant must have opted for payment of such special assessments on the installment method if such method was available.