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Orcutt says tax hike bill
bad for schools, worse for property owners
A property tax hike bill
passed by the House today would complicate school funding, add to the
burden on property owners and dodge the property tax limit set by voters
in 2001, said
Rep. Ed Orcutt,
R-Kalama.
House Bill 1484 would
authorize countywide property tax levies of 75 cents per $1,000 assessed
value to go before voters, to fund collectively bargained cost-of-living
salary supplements for school employees. It was adopted 50-46 today and
now goes to the Senate for consideration.
“The House has passed
bills this session aimed at what some like to describe as ‘tax
loopholes.’ I don’t think there’s any question this bill would create a
loophole – a way to circumvent the will of the voters who passed
Initiative 747, and avoid the 60-percent ‘supermajority’ requirement for
passage of property tax increases,” said Orcutt. “It's a bad day for
property owners."
Orcutt predicts school districts seeking voter approval of a bond issue
will have a more difficult time passing the bond if the property tax is
increased under HB 1484.
“The property tax would be
increased according to county boundaries, not school district
boundaries. The Woodland School District, which I represent, is split
between Cowlitz County and Clark County. If the 75-cent tax increase
authorized under this bill is approved by voters in one county but not
the other, does it mean the taxpayers in the one county are subsidizing
students who reside in the other county? There’s a real problem here,”
said Orcutt.
“People talk about how our
school districts need more money to pay cost-of-living salary increases.
We already have a process – the excess levies that are run every two to
four years, because a lot of the money from those levies goes to enhance
teacher salaries in those districts. There’s no need for a separate
levy,” Orcutt added.
“It’s a tax increase.
Let’s make no mistake about it. People will pay more property tax under
the provisions of this bill.”
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Public
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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