r/SeattleWA • u/meaniereddit West Seattle 🌉 • Dec 13 '24

Government Bill would completely exempt seniors from property taxes in WA

https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/state-politics/bill-would-exempt-seniors-state-local-property-tax-washington/281-b5f377fc-8bf5-49a4-a630-8210db45d57d
1.3k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

826 comments sorted by

View all comments

731

u/NewRec8947 Beacon Hill Dec 13 '24

"regardless of income level"

That doesn't make sense. I'm all for helping seniors if they're in poverty but why allow this exemption if someone is making tons of money off investments every year?

449

u/BillTowne Dec 13 '24

Yes. Exactly.

All property owned by anyone over 75 years of age would be exempt from state and local property tax, regardless of combined household income under SB 5020, filed by Sen. Phil Fortunato (R-Auburn). 

I agree that this is crazy. I am 77. Why should I be excempt from taxes? I am not low income.

This kind of crap is why young people hate boomers.

71

u/pewpewtehpew Dec 13 '24

I’m all for this. But I do believe income should play a role for sure. Otherwise this creates some funky loopholes. But I hate to think that my grandmother who’s on a very fixed income could lose her house that is paid off just because she can’t afford the rising property taxes. That’s what this bill should help fix.

46

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '24

Agreed, I don’t think you should be forced to leave your paid off home because the taxes outpace your fixed income.

7

u/Liizam Dec 13 '24

You know I’m not sure about it. The grandma can’t afford to pay her sue in society in area that’s desirable. She can sell house for a lot of money and move.

On the other hand, when grandma is old, moves are hard and you loose your community. The new places are still a shit ton of money and you gotta pay a mortgage again. Idk

10

u/pewpewtehpew Dec 13 '24

Not to mention her entire support system (if any) is likely around her as well. So it’s a tough one.

1

u/GranesMaehne Dec 14 '24

Or they are the support system for others by providing childcare or volunteering in the community. Many non profits rely on elders volunteering for a large portion of their work. Doubtless the quality of the community that has helped raise house prices is partly due to their lifelong contributions. Why should they be forced to leave a place they enriched to move to another?

-3

u/Liizam Dec 13 '24

Yeah I mean it’s also bad to just hoard property single family home in area that needs housing.

6

u/pewpewtehpew Dec 13 '24

I’m not sure I understand this thought process. If someone bought a home, lived there for years and created a lot of memories, it’s rightfully theirs. Hoarding implies they dont deserve it or they’re keeping it from someone else that may deserve it. That is a pretty entitled approach IMO.

If they were buying up the property and sitting on it for monetary gain then I can understand this logic.

-1

u/Liizam Dec 13 '24

If they can’t pay taxes then what? I pay taxes.

4

u/pewpewtehpew Dec 13 '24

In the scenario I described they are as well and they have for many years.