Haugen bill would ease taxes on seniors, disabled retirees in rural areas

OLYMPIA – Increasingly more seniors and other retirees living in rural areas are facing a double whammy: the property taxes on their land are rising beyond their means, but zoning ordinances bar them from subdividing properties of five or fewer acres. This prevents them from selling off parts of their property, either to raise money to pay taxes or to reduce the property size on which they are taxed so that they aren’t priced out of their homes.

“In some cases, land values have risen so much that the extra acreage is now more valuable than the home,” said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island. “No one should have to move out of their home just because the property value has gone through the roof.”

To prevent that from happening, Haugen has proposed legislation to extend the current property tax exemption for one-acre properties to up to five acres for land that cannot be subdivided.

The exemption freezes the value of the land and allows a property tax exemption on a personal residence. It would apply to anyone who:

• is 61 years old or older in the year of application, or is retired due to disability, or is a veteran of the United States armed forces with a 100-percent service-connected disability; and
• has a disposable income of $35,000 or less.

The measure, Senate Bill 6338, would bring the law in line with acreage limits that already apply to homeowners who may defer payment of property taxes on their personal residences if their disposable income is $40,000 or less and if they are 60 years old or older, or retired because of a physical disability. SB 6338 awaits a second reading by the Senate Rules Committee.

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