BILL REQ. #: H-3959.1
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2004 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/20/2004. Referred to Committee on Finance.
AN ACT Relating to providing tax relief for senior citizens and persons retired because of physical disability; amending RCW 84.36.381 and 84.36.383; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 84.36.381 and 1998 c 333 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 ((thirty)) thirty-four 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 ((twenty-four)) twenty-eight thousand
dollars or less but greater than ((eighteen)) twenty-two thousand
dollars shall be exempt from all regular property taxes on the greater
of ((forty)) forty-four thousand dollars or thirty-five percent of the
valuation of his or her residence, but not to exceed ((sixty)) sixty-four 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 ((eighteen)) twenty-two thousand dollars
or less shall be exempt from all regular property taxes on the greater
of ((fifty)) fifty-four thousand dollars or 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 ((thirty)) thirty-four 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.
Every two years, the department of revenue shall adjust each
combined disposable income amount and each valuation amount in this
section to reflect inflation. The department may round the adjusted
amounts to the nearest thousand dollars. The adjusted amounts apply
for taxes due the following two years. For the purposes of this
section, "inflation" means the change in the consumer price index for
all urban consumers for the United States, all items, as compiled by
the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department of
labor.
Sec. 2 RCW 84.36.383 and 1999 c 358 s 18 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" means 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. 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. A mobile home
located on land leased by the owner of the mobile home is 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" means 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.
(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 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;)) Amounts deducted for depreciation;
(c)
(((d))) (c) Pension and annuity receipts;
(((e))) (d) Military pay and benefits other than attendant-care and
medical-aid payments;
(((f))) (e) Veterans benefits other than attendant-care and
medical-aid payments;
(((g))) (f) Federal social security act and railroad retirement
benefits;
(((h))) (g) Dividend receipts; and
(((i))) (h) 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.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 Section 1 of this act applies to taxes
levied for collection in 2005 and thereafter.