S-4390.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6460
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1994 Regular Session
By Senator Roach
Read first time 01/24/94. Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.
AN ACT Relating to property tax reform; and amending RCW 84.40.045, 84.56.050, and 84.52.054.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 84.40.045 and 1977 ex.s. c 181 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The assessor
shall give notice to the taxpayer of any change in the true and fair
value of real property for the tract or lot of land and any improvements
thereon no later than thirty days after appraisal((: PROVIDED, That)).
However, no such notice shall be mailed during the period from January 15
to February 15 of each year((: PROVIDED FURTHER, That)). In
addition, no notice need be sent with respect to changes in valuation of
forest land made pursuant to chapter 84.33 RCW.
(2) The notice provided for in this section shall contain the following information and this information shall be separately stated on the notice:
(a) A statement
of both the ((prior)) immediately preceding year's and the ((new))
current year's true and fair value ((and)), stating separately
land and improvement values;
(b) The ratio of
the assessed value to the true and fair value on which the assessment of the
property is based((, stating separately land and improvement values, and));
and
(c) A brief statement of the procedure for appeal to the board of equalization and the time, date, and place of the meetings of the board.
(3) The notice shall be mailed by the assessor to the taxpayer. For the purposes of this section, "taxpayer" means any person charged, or whose property is charged, with property tax.
(4) If any
taxpayer, as shown by the tax rolls, holds solely a security interest in the
real property which is the subject of the notice provided for in this
section, pursuant to a mortgage, contract of sale, or deed of trust, such
taxpayer shall((, upon written request of the assessor,)) supply((, within
thirty days of receipt of such request,)) to the assessor for the county
in which the parcel is located for inclusion on the tax rolls the name and
address of the person making payments for property tax purposes pursuant
to the mortgage, contract of sale, or deed of trust, and thereafter such person
shall also receive a copy of the notice provided for in this section. Willful
failure to comply with ((such request within the time limitation provided
for herein)) the requirements of this subsection shall make such
taxpayer subject to a civil penalty of five dollars for each parcel of real
property ((within the scope of the request)) in which it holds the
security interest, the aggregate of such penalties in any one year not to
exceed five thousand dollars. The penalties provided for ((herein)) in
this subsection shall be recoverable in an action by the county prosecutor,
and when recovered shall be deposited in the county current expense fund. ((The
assessor shall make the request provided for by this section during the month
of January.))
Sec. 2. RCW 84.56.050 and 1991 c 245 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) On receiving the tax rolls the county treasurer shall post all real and personal property taxes from the rolls to the treasurer's tax roll, and shall carry forward to the current tax rolls a memorandum of all delinquent taxes on each and every description of property, and enter the same on the property upon which the taxes are delinquent showing the amounts for each year.
(2) The
treasurer shall notify each taxpayer in the county, at the expense of the
county, of the total amount of ((the)) real and personal
property((, and the current and delinquent amount of tax due on the same;
and the treasurer shall have printed on the notice the name of each tax and the
levy made on the same)) taxes due and payable. The notice mailed to the
taxpayer shall at a minimum contain the following information and this
information must be separately stated on the notice:
(a) The name and address of the taxpayer;
(b) The name, address, and telephone number of the county issuing the notice;
(c) The parcel number as noted in the county records;
(d) The legal property address and description;
(e) The year for which the assessment is being made;
(f) The assessed valuation for the identified parcel's land value and improvement value as reported by the county assessor's office;
(g) Current billing information containing the name of each taxing jurisdiction levying a tax on the identified parcel, the amount of that jurisdiction's levy rate, and the total amount due for each taxing jurisdiction;
(h) The total taxes due as a result of regular property taxes together with an indication of the percentage increase from the previous year's total;
(i) The total taxes due as a result of excess levies approved by the voters and any special assessments together with an indication of the percentage increase from the previous year's total;
(j) The total taxes due and payable from the taxpayer, including any delinquent taxes and any interest or penalties due; and
(k) A notice of the payment due dates and possible delinquency penalties and interest.
(3) The county
treasurer shall be the sole collector of all delinquent taxes and all other
taxes due and collectible on the tax rolls of the county((: PROVIDED, That)).
(4) For the purposes
of this section, the term "taxpayer" ((as used in this section
shall)) means any person charged, or whose property is charged, with
property tax((; and)).
(5) The person
to be officially notified under subsection (2) of this section is
((that)) the person whose name appears on the tax rolls ((herein
mentioned: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That)) of the county issuing the notice.
If no name so appears the person to be officially notified is that
person shown by the treasurer's tax rolls or duplicate tax receipts of any
preceding year as the payer of the tax last paid on the property in question.
(6) The county assessor shall include on the tax rolls the name and address of the person making payments for property tax purposes pursuant to a mortgage, contract of sale, or deed of trust that has been provided by a taxpayer as required in RCW 84.40.045(4). If this information is included on the tax rolls for any parcel, the treasurer shall provide a duplicate of the notice provided for in this section to that person. Any duplicate notice sent to a person other than the taxpayer shall clearly state in bold-face type that the duplicate notice is not a bill and is for informational purposes only.
Sec. 3. RCW 84.52.054 and 1986 c 133 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Any ballot
proposition submitted to the voters requesting the additional tax provided
for in ((subparagraph (a) of the seventeenth amendment to)) Article
VII, section 2 (a) and (b) of the state Constitution ((as amended by
Amendment 59 and as thereafter amended,)) and specifically authorized by
RCW 84.52.052((, as now or hereafter amended, and RCW)),
84.52.053 ((and)), 84.52.0531, and 84.52.056, or any other
proposition submitted to the voters for regular or excess property tax levies
shall ((be set forth in terms of dollars on the ballot of the proposition to
be submitted to the voters, together with an estimate of the dollar rate of tax
levy that will be required to produce the dollar amount; and)) contain
the following information in the official ballot title submitted to the voters:
(a) The total dollar amount proposed to be collected during the entire period of the levy;
(b) An estimate of the dollar rate of the tax levy that will be required for each one thousand dollars of assessed value to produce the total dollar amount proposed in (a) of this subsection;
(c) An estimate of the total tax liability for one hundred thousand dollars of taxable value based on the estimated dollar amount of tax levy in (b) of this subsection for each year of the period for which the tax levy is proposed; and
(d) A summary of the proposed uses of the tax levies requested.
(2) Any ballot proposition submitted to the voters requesting the additional tax provided for in Article VII, section 2 (a) and (b) of the state Constitution and specifically authorized by RCW 84.52.052, 84.52.053, 84.52.0531, and 84.52.056, or any other proposition submitted to the voters for regular or excess property tax levies lasting longer than one year shall contain the following information in the official ballot title submitted to the voters:
(a) The total dollar amount proposed to be collected during the entire period of the levy;
(b) The total dollar amount proposed to be collected during each year of the period for which the tax levy is proposed. The total dollar amount for each annual levy in the period may be equal or in different amounts;
(c) An estimate of the dollar rate of the tax levy that will be required for each one thousand dollars of assessed value to produce the total dollar amounts proposed in (b) of this subsection;
(d) An estimate of the total tax liability for one hundred thousand dollars of taxable value based on the estimated dollar amount of tax levy in (b) of this subsection for each year of the period for which the tax levy is proposed; and
(e) A summary of the proposed uses of the tax levies requested.
(3) The
county assessor, in spreading ((this)) any voter-approved tax
upon the rolls, shall determine the eventual dollar rate required to produce
the amount of dollars so voted upon, regardless of the estimate of dollar rate
of tax levy carried in said proposition. ((In the case of a school district
proposition for a particular period, the dollar amount and the corresponding
estimate of the dollar rate of tax levy shall be set forth for each of the
years in that period. The dollar amount for each annual levy in the particular
period may be equal or in different amounts.))
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