BILL REQ. #: H-0322.3
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/28/13. Referred to Committee on Finance.
AN ACT Relating to allowing leased land used for the placement of a mobile home to qualify for the senior, disabled, and veteran property tax exemption; 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 2012 c 10 s 73 are each amended to read
as follows:
A person is 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. However, 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 may receive an exemption on more than one residence in any
year. Moreover, confinement of the person to a hospital, nursing home,
assisted living facility, or adult family home does not disqualify the
claim of exemption if:
(a) The residence is temporarily unoccupied;
(b) The residence is occupied by a spouse or a domestic partner
and/or a person financially dependent on the claimant for support; or
(c) The residence is rented for the purpose of paying nursing home,
hospital, assisted living facility, or adult family home 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 state registered domestic partnership or owned
by cotenants is deemed to be owned by each spouse or each domestic
partner or each cotenant, and any lease for life is deemed a life
estate;
(3)(a) The person claiming the exemption must be:
(i) 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
disability; or
(ii) A veteran of the armed forces of the United States entitled to
and receiving compensation from the United States department of
veterans affairs at a total disability rating for a service-connected
disability.
(b) However, any surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner of
a person who was receiving an exemption at the time of the person's
death will 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;
(4) The amount that the person is exempt from an obligation to pay
is 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 must 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 the person's
domestic partner, 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 must 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-five thousand dollars or less is
exempt from all excess property taxes; and
(b)(i) A person who otherwise qualifies under this section and has
a combined disposable income of thirty thousand dollars or less but
greater than twenty-five thousand dollars is exempt from all regular
property taxes on the greater of fifty thousand dollars or thirty-five
percent of the valuation of his or her residence, but not to exceed
seventy 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 twenty-five thousand dollars or less is
exempt from all regular property taxes on the greater of sixty thousand
dollars or sixty percent of the valuation of his or her residence;
(6)(a) For a person who otherwise qualifies under this section and
has a combined disposable income of thirty-five thousand dollars or
less, the valuation of the residence is 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 must 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 is 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 is the assessed
value of the different residence on January 1st of the assessment year
in which the person transfers the exemption.
(b) 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.
(c) 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 must be added to the value
otherwise determined under this subsection at their true and fair value
in the year in which they are made;
(7) Real property is exempt from taxation to the extent provided
under this section if it is leased to the owner of a mobile home
meeting the requirements of subsections (1) through (5) of this section
who places such mobile home on the property if the benefit of the
exemption inures to the mobile homeowner.
Sec. 2 RCW 84.36.383 and 2012 c 10 s 74 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, 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
also includes 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 also includes
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 is deemed real
property. The term also includes land leased by an owner of a mobile
home if the benefit of the exemption for the value of the land inures
to the owner of the mobile home.
(2) The term "real property" also includes 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 or domestic partner, 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 or domestic
partner 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;
(b) The treatment or care of either person received in the home or
in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or adult family home; and
(c) Health care insurance premiums 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 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:
(i) Attendant-care payments;
(ii) Medical-aid payments;
(iii) Disability compensation, as defined in Title 38, part 3,
section 3.4 of the code of federal regulations, as of January 1, 2008;
and
(iv) Dependency and indemnity compensation, as defined in Title 38,
part 3, section 3.5 of the code of federal regulations, as of January
1, 2008;
(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.
(7) "Disability" has the same meaning as provided in 42 U.S.C. Sec.
423(d)(1)(A) as amended prior to January 1, 2005, or such subsequent
date as the department may provide by rule consistent with the purpose
of this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 This act applies to taxes levied for
collection in 2014 and thereafter.