OLYMPIA…Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee, is sponsoring several bills this legislative session aimed at helping citizens deal with skyrocketing property tax bills. Three of those bills will be the subject of a public hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 28, in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Cherberg Building, Hearing Room 4, on the Capitol Campus in Olympia.   

“Property taxes are a top concern for many people in our district, especially when some assessments have gone up as much as two thousand percent,” Parlette said. “For several years I have been trying to get my fellow senators to pay attention to citizens’ very valid need for property tax relief. I am pleased to receive a hearing on these three bills, especially so early in the legislative session.”

The following three bills will be heard on Wednesday. All of these bills deal with assessments and have bipartisan support.  

• Annual assessments. Senate Bill 5099 would require that assessors revalue property every year starting in 2014. This would avoid huge property tax spikes when property values go up, and help people avoid paying taxes for years on a higher value when property values have declined. Under the bill the Department of Revenue is asked to provide guidance and financial assistance to help county assessors make this change.  It also requires the DOR to administer a grant program to assist counties with the schedule change. (Parlette is prime sponsor of SB 5099)

• Another annual assessment bill. Senate Bill 5368 would require annual revaluation of property for tax purposes and continue a $5 fee on real estate transactions (currently set to expire in 2010) until 2013. Money from the fee is used for a grant program to help counties convert to an annual reassessment schedule.  (Sen. Margarita Prentice, who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee and prime-sponsored the legislation, asked Parlette to be first co-sponsor on SB 5368)

• Property tax reassessment “trigger.” Senate Bill 5425 would require a reassessment of property in the next year if the overall property values in a county drop by more than 10 percent. (Parlette is prime sponsor of SB 5425)

Over the past few sessions Parlette has sponsored legislation aimed at providing property tax relief for property owners in her district and across the state. 

“The fact that these bills have received a hearing is a very positive step forward,” said Parlette. “I will continue to push for their passage before the early March cutoff date when all Senate bills must be voted out of Senate committees.”  

- 30 -