OLYMPIA, Wash. — Senate Democrats abandoned plans Friday to give local governments a chance to raise property taxes at a higher rate.
Current law only allows cities or counties to raise property taxes one percent a year, without voter approval. Senate Bill 5770 would have increased that cap to three percent.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, argued cities and counties needed additional revenue to keep up with inflation and population growth. He said the "significant” change in policy would help local agencies better handle backlogs in the judicial system and shortages in law enforcement.
In a written statement released Friday, Pedersen said, “We have heard the public’s concerns about property taxes. We recognize that we must do a better job of explaining both how the current 1% cap hamstrings local governments' efforts to fund public safety and other essential services we all rely on and how small a portion of property taxes this policy would affect.”
Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Wooley, had called the bill the “most destructive” of the legislative session.
Less controversial bills that passed unanimously off the Senate floor last week included legislation to increase criminal penalties for pot shop robbers and a bill to eliminate hog-tying as a tactic for police to restrain someone.
Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, said she worked on the legislation with the family of Manuel Ellis.
Ellis died in 2020 while being arrested by Tacoma Police. Ellis had been hog-tied during the arrest.
Four officers were criminally charged in connection with the death, but they were acquitted.
”Regardless of how you feel about the outcomes of that particular case,” said Trudeau, “I think it's important to remember that he (Ellis) was loved. He was loved and he was somebody's family member. And I think any of us on the floor would not want our family member to spend the final moments of their life in this inhumane way.”