BP BHEAD INT H

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.