OLYMPIA, Wash. — A Washington state bill that would have given cities and counties the ability to raise property taxes at a higher rate has died.
Bill sponsor, state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, said Friday that lawmakers will not move forward with Senate Bill 5770 after hearing feedback from constituents.
“We have heard the public’s concerns about property taxes,” said Pedersen, D-Seattle.
SB 5770 would have allowed local governments to raise property taxes up to 3% annually. Right now, that rate is capped at 1%.
In a public hearing in January, lawmakers heard from King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay who said that budgets in the state’s largest county cannot keep up with inflation and population growth with 1% property tax increases. He said without SB 5770, the county would have to close public health clinics and “dramatically” scale back public health services.
However, Senate Minority Leader, Sen. John Braun, argued local governments should rely on higher sales taxes to increase revenue. Braun, R-Lewis County, said the property tax hike would hurt not only homeowners but low-income renters as well.
Though the bill won’t move forward in its current form, Pedersen said Friday that he “remains committed” to offering local governments the flexibility to make needed economic choices.
“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,” Pedersen said.