Haugen promotes property tax relief

OLYMPIA — Low income senior citizens, persons retired due to physical disability, and service-disabled veterans will soon be eligible for an increase in their property tax exemptions if one Island County lawmaker gets her way.

“Many people living on fixed incomes have seen their home values rise drastically in recent years,” said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island. “Unfortunately, being more wealthy on paper doesn’t mean you can afford to pay the increased property taxes that go with increasing property values — we need to do something about that.”

Haugen’s proposal will increase by $5,000 the income limits for senior citizens, persons retired due to physical disability, and veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability who apply for property tax exemptions. It also raises the amounts of the exemptions that are available for those who qualify.

Applicants with household incomes up to $30,000 would get a property tax exemption on the first $60,000 or 60% of a property’s assessed value, whichever is greater. Those with incomes from $30,001 to $35,000 would have an exemption on $50,000 or 50% of assessed property value, whichever is greater. The maximum valuation exemption is raised from $70,000 to $100,000.

All of those who qualify would still maintain the current exemption from special levies and property valuations as of Jan. 1 of the year they apply or Jan. 1, 1995, whichever is later.

“This proposal raises many of the limits on existing exemptions,” said Haugen. “I think it will make a big difference to helping people on fixed incomes whose life savings are invested in their homes.”

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