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Hinkle, Warnick proposal extends
property tax break to horse boarders
'The last thing in the world we should be doing in
these stressful economic times is placing another fee or tax on
struggling small businesses,' says Hinkle
Property owners across the
state fearing they might be on the hook for current and back property
taxes due to unclear language in the state's Current Use Program can
rest easy if legislation proposed by
Reps.
Bill Hinkle and
Judy Warnick becomes law.
"Our bill expands the definition of 'commercial agricultural purpose' to
include horse boarding and other, more modern agribusiness uses such as
piglet and calf breeding," said Hinkle, R-Cle Elum.
"Our agriculture industry - and the businesses that support that
industry - are constantly growing and changing. Our laws need to
keep pace to reflect these changes.
"The last thing in the world we should be doing in these stressful
economic times is placing another fee or tax on struggling small
businesses," Hinkle continued. "If our laws are
antiquated, we need to fix them."
The property tax relief is part of the state's open space program, designed
to encourage property owners to leave land underdeveloped. While
commercial farming sees the highest tax relief, there are various
reductions depending on the specific use of the land.
"As
a horse boarder myself, I can’t imagine the 'back taxes' I and others
would have to pay to keep our businesses going," said Warnick,
R-Moses Lake. "The law was intended to encourage the open space of
land. Horses need space like any other farm animal, whether
they’re being raised or boarded for the winter. I look forward to
correcting this law."
Recently, the Department of Revenue (DOR) became aware some agribusinesses
that might not meet the current use standards were claiming the property
tax break. As a result, the department is in the middle of a
rule-changing process to address the expanding definition of commercial
agricultural purpose and is not currently collecting taxes from those
businesses in question.
Hinkle said he was grateful for the DOR's recent
decision not to enforce the collection of the fees, but feared if no
legislative action was taken, many property owners would eventually be
forced to pay current and back taxes.
"We're thankful the department was willing to sit down and work this out
on behalf of our expanding agribusinesses," Hinkle
said. "But we need a more permanent, more clearly-defined solution
than what they're capable of coming up with. And we specifically
need to protect our small businesses from having to pay huge amounts of
back taxes due to no fault of their own."
House Bill 1232 defines commercial agricultural purpose to include:
"...the commercial: Raising; harvesting; feeding; breeding;
managing; selling; care; or training of a farm product as defined in RCW
7.48.310(4) where the owner or lessee intends to obtain
through lawful means, a monetary profit from cash income. No state
agency, county , or municipality may impose definitions more restrictive
than those defined under this section."
Hinkle and Warnick's bill was referred to the House Agriculture and
Natural Resource Committee.
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
Sarah Lamb, Public Information
Officer: (360) 786-7720
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