June 16, 2009

Special to the Daily Record

In the midst of bank bailouts, stimulus packages and economic turmoil, the average citizen needs property tax relief

By Rep. Bill Hinkle

Throughout my time as a legislator, one of the most frequent issues brought up by frustrated constituents has been property taxes. As a result, I’ve been a part of efforts over the years to give the elderly and those living on fixed incomes property tax breaks and exemptions and have worked to try to reduce the property tax burden on our families.

One of the most critical issues regarding property taxes now is the fact that we’re on the back end of a huge real estate spike which has resulted in unfair property tax valuations.

With the hot real estate and housing markets we had a short time ago, many property owners have seen huge increases in assessed values. For some, that assessed value took place over a year ago when the market was booming. Now that the market has gone backwards, the assessed value in many cases is not even close to reality. Folks are being forced to pay property taxes nowhere near the actual market value of their homes.

Because valuation cycles differ from county to county – seventeen counties reassess values only once every four years – home owners can be stuck with these unjust property assessments for years! This is not right.

This past session, I supported Substitute Senate Bill 5368 which mandates that all counties assess properties on an annual basis by Jan. 1, 2014. While this won’t help some of our most burdened homeowners immediately, it will help avoid the drastic spikes in future assessments due to a fickle and unpredictable housing market.

I also cosponsored legislation that would have helped to protect property owners from unfair property assessments by giving them more time to appeal when there is a dispute.

House Bill 1480 would have changed the date a homeowner could appeal the property's assessed value from June 30 to November 1. This would simply give a homeowner more time to appeal unfair assessments due to fluctuating market conditions.

In some cases, if a property hasn't changed in assessed value, no notice is given to the homeowner. If no notice is given, a homeowner doesn’t have much opportunity to appeal should the true and fair market value of the property be substantially reduced.

In short, a lot of homeowners in the 13th District were not allowed to appeal their assessments because the county assessor ruled that the assessed value of their property didn't change from the previous year. As such, no official notice was given to the homeowners, so they could not make an appeal. This legislation would have fixed a glaring 'catch-22' for property owners.

Unfortunately, this legislation did not pass the Legislature.

While the state is slowly realizing the unjust burden our property tax system is placing upon our citizens, more must be done. In my opinion, there is something inherently wrong with a system that results in folks being taxed out of homes that are completely paid for and have been in the family for generations.

I will continue to work next session with members from both parties to provide true, meaningful property tax relief for our citizens.

(Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, represents the 13th District.  He is the House Republican Whip and serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and is the Assistant Ranking Republican on the General Government Appropriations Committee.)

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