OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee signed a $391 million property tax cut into law Tuesday in an effort to give homeowners a relief on their 2019 tax bill. The property tax cut is designed to offset the large increase in property taxes for 2018, - a measure that was passed in 2017 to fund K-12 education.
A release from the Senate Democratic Caucus says, "Senate Bill 6614, sponsored by Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, uses projected revenue from Washington's booming economy to roll back about 40 percent of this year's state property tax increase while continuing to fully fund K-12 education."
The measure aims to reduce the state property tax rate in 2019 from $2.70 per $1,000 of assessed value by 30 cents to $2.40.
“As the majority party, Democrats accomplished a lot this year, but I’m particularly proud that my colleagues in the Senate and the House came together to pass property tax relief,” Mullet said in a release. “We heard clearly that the compromise deal we made last year to fund education overburdened working Washingtonians. I’m pleased were able return a portion of the 2018 property tax increase while still meeting our duty to fully fund our schools.”
Washington state's property taxes increased in 2018 due to a deal lawmakers made to address the state Supreme Court's McClearly ruling, which shifted the responsibility to fund K-12 education to local school districts.
As a result of the ruling the state property tax rate increased starting in 2018 while the local levy rates were reduced starting in 2019, meaning taxpayers had to pay for both this year.
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