Where’s the middle class going?

By Sen. Tracey J. Eide

When I talk with community members in our area, one thing emerges above everything else: it’s getting more and more difficult for hardworking people to make a comfortable living.

There’s a lot of work to do in the upcoming Legislative session starting in January. My focus, along with many of my Democratic colleagues, will be protecting the pocketbooks of working people and families amidst the rising costs of living: health care, property taxes and gas prices, to name a few.

Property taxes in our state are forcing some people out of their homes. During the upcoming legislative session, it’s time we move beyond the legislation passed during last month’s special session. It’s unacceptable to me that people are losing homes they’ve had for fifty years, because they can’t afford their skyrocketing tax bill.

Last month, the Legislature moved to provide immediate relief to families at financial risk of losing their homes by expanding the property tax deferral program and reinstating the one-percent property tax cap. It was a quick way to help protect the American Dream for many people around the state. The Legislature’s work won’t end there, because the problem of explosive property value growth meaning rising property taxes is a big one.

Home ownership is a cornerstone of healthy communities and strong economies, that’s why I fully supported legislation expanding the property tax deferral program to households with state median income of $57,000. This deferral program was already in place for seniors and disabled people, but now more than 6,000 additional people can get immediate relief — preventing some from losing their home. Although these people will still owe the property tax that is deferred when they sell their home, it’s a safe way, and for some a last option, to keep their piece of the American Dream.

Although the Supreme Court overturned property tax Initiative 747 on technical grounds, capping property taxes at one-percent increases is what the people of the 30th Legislative District wanted — when 62 percent of voters here approved I-747, that meant something. I’ve always supported the will of voters. That’s why I supported the legislative version written exactly as the Initiative was, to reinstate the tax cap.

But there’s more to the overall issue than tax deferrals and caps. Real reform is needed, and that will be one of my priorities as we move through the upcoming legislative session — because working families need help now.

Sen. Tracey J. Eide (D-Federal Way) is the Majority Floor Leader of the Washington State Senate.

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