In today's Olympian, Brad Shannon reports on the spate of property tax bills being introduced in the Legislature. Under the apt headline, "Certainly no dearth of tax legislation," the story discusses the renewed political interest in property tax relief. Most of them offer targeted relief; some seek a Constitutional amendment to break the uniformity requirement and allow a homestead deduction.
Shannon interviewed me and I restated AWB's long-time opposition to attempts to create a split-roll.
Dick Davis of the Association of Washington Business said his group remains opposed to the concept.
"I think we're watching very closely," Davis said. "We've got a system right now that in many ways is a model for the country, in terms of all the property being assessed at 100 percent of fair market value and all property being treated the same.
"Once you start separating classes of property, that is almost an endless spiral into a system with mind-numbing complexity. And it pits one property owner against the other."
Rising assessments do not necessarily result in higher taxes. Local property taxes reflect the spending decisions made by local governments and their voters. Efforts to limit growth in tax collections, like the I-747 tax cap, do not create a split roll and can mitigate rapid increases in tax bills.
