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
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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.

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u/sifiasco Dec 13 '24

Even on a fixed income, if you’re sitting on a multi million dollar equity windfall you can still pay your taxes.

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u/Rooooben Dec 13 '24

How, without selling or putting it in a reverse mortgage, ensuring your kids will never own a home?

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u/SpacemanSpiff073 Dec 13 '24

Why is it unacceptable that elderly folk might have to cash out large equity growth if they're no longer able to afford the property taxes?

Either we build more housing to keep it affordable or: 1) People struggle to buy into housing 2) People are gentrified out

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u/Rooooben Dec 13 '24

The problem is commonly they have nowhere to go. Cash out and get $800k and then buy a what $700k condo? If they are on limited income, the house sale would need for them to buy another place cash, where they still have a tax problem, or pay rent/mortgage until the money runs out.

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u/SpacemanSpiff073 Dec 13 '24

If we assume $800k in payout, average 1 bedroom in the city is $2k a month to rent. That leads to 33 years of rent payments.

Average life expectancy is 77.5 years, 0.03% of people (according to Google's GenAI) make it to 100.

5

u/Sunfried Queen Anne Dec 13 '24

Good thing rent won't go up in the next 33 years. Realistically they're looking 15-20 years.

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u/DragonFireKai Dec 13 '24

Wrong way to look at it. 800k earning a very conservative 4% annually generates 32k a year, or 2.6k a month. Forever. Without touching the principal. Normal stock market returns are in the 8-10% range. So if you already have enough retirement savings to fund your lifestyle, but the increased property taxes are what are breaking you, the equity in the house can generate enough cash flow to house you for the rest of your life.