'Prop 13 like' proposed change to WA property tax structure (Vancouver: lease, insurance)

[pnwguy2]

I have read all of this thread, and I think most comments are spot on, and I will say a limit on
Property taxes is a good idea. Get the overspenders out of office. This State can afford it.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by leastprime

My sister and cousin feel trapped in their California, large homes of ~40 years.
Oregon has a tax cap of 6% and California has a 2% cap. IIRC.
Washington has sales, user fees, and property taxes.
Oregon has income tax, smaller user fees, and property taxes.
California has income tax, property, and sales taxes.
JMO, no state has a lock on a workable tax policy.
YTMV

If by "workable" you mean "I get to live in a first world country and not pay taxes", then no.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

Comparing WA and CA, maybe I'm naive, but it looks to me that CA wants to soak affluent people, especially if they're newcomers... whereas WA's tax structure is almost tailor-made to attract in-migration by those who are already comparatively wealthy. Am I wrong?

You are not wrong. But these things go back a LONG LONG time. The Washington Constitution banned income taxes in 1889. Voters overwhelmingly passed an income tax in 1932 during the great depression but the Washington Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional.

That was a LONG LONG time before anyone was trying to make Washington more competitive to California for tax migrants.

It would take a constitutional amendment for Washington to implement an income tax like Oregon or California. That that is a long and difficult process that would be unlikely to pass. So Washington continues to rely on sales taxes and business fees for state revenues and property taxes (and some sales taxes) for local revenues. It will likely always be that way.

By contrast, Oregon passed its first income tax in 1923 and has never had a sales tax. There have been numerous attempts to pass one but the voters always vote it down overwhelmingly.

So the chances of either state fundamentally changing its tax structure are pretty slim, at least in the intermediate future. That also means that Vancouver residents will likely always have the tax arbitrage opportunities that they have now.

[leastprime]

Oregon and Washington. Similar but different.
Both relatively nice places to live with a huge range of climate and economic zones.
YSMV

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by leastprime

Oregon and Washington. Similar but different.
Both relatively nice places to live with a huge range of climate and economic zones.
YSMV

All well and good, but this is about property taxes. My earlier point is California limited property taxes decades ago. WA should do the same. But probably won’t.

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

All well and good, but this is about property taxes. My earlier point is California limited property taxes decades ago. WA should do the same. But probably won’t.

all three are variations of taxation.
The elephant is of course Californina.
Oregon followed California in property tax limitation, 2 years after CA, IIRC.
Oregon already had a school property tax limitation, prior to CA. Oregon the voters strengthen and lose certain aspects. Gotta remember, the 3 states are brothers.

[Pomelo]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

The Washington Constitution banned income taxes in 1889.

As far as I know, the WA constitution bans marginal income tax rates, not income tax itself.

https://taxfoundation.org/washington-state-income-tax/

The constitution defines property as “everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.” Up to this point, the court has concluded that income is subject to ownership and, therefore, property taxable only at uniform rates.

As a practical matter, the uniformity requirement functionally limits the legislature from enacting an income tax. Such a tax would have to be a flat tax without deductions, exemptions, or exclusions. Washington voters have repeatedly rejected proposed constitutional amendments authorizing nonuniform income taxes.

http://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/pages/waconstitution.aspx

Article 7 starts with:

All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. The word "property" as used herein shall mean and include everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.

[rkcarguy]

If ANY new taxes come to life in WA, some others need to go away. My total tax "load" is silly for my middle-class income in this state.

[Pomelo]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

If ANY new taxes come to life in WA, some others need to go away. My total tax "load" is silly for my middle-class income in this state.

For perspective, I saved $20k in taxes moving to WA from NJ just in the first year. Try living in any of the states or cities (such as NJ/CT/IL/NYC/Chicago/Portland) with massive underfunded pension liabilities for a real dose of “silly” taxes.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

If ANY new taxes come to life in WA, some others need to go away. My total tax "load" is silly for my middle-class income in this state.

Is the lion's share of your tax burden primarily from property taxes? Just curious. Obviously, there are many taxes. But that one seems to be the source of greatest complaints I've heard, especially if you live on acreage. For some reason those WA locals seem to get targeted by assessors as those 'rich' folks.

My next door farming neighbor finally gave up and sold most of his property to developers. When speaking to him about it, he basically said there is 'no money in dairy farming' anymore. And these developments will pay a lot of money for the land toward his retirement. I know Bellingham and Whatcom County may have different restrictions on land development of farms or acreage properties like this. But in Clark County this is a big trend with many local farmers moving toward becoming developers themselves or selling 'most' of their land for residential housing developments. This is right nextdoor to us with hundreds of new homes going in like dominos as one farm sells and then another and so on...





Derek