2022 property tax legislation | Washington State Department of Revenue

The following is a summary of the significant property tax legislation approved during the regular session of the 2022 Washington State Legislature. We have included links to the Legislature site for each bill that adopted. These sites give a very complete picture of how the measures moved through the legislative process and provide copies of the measures that have been enacted into law. We have also provided contact information for our staff members that may be involved in the implementation of the bill or the ongoing administration of related programs.

HB 1590 - Concerning enrollment stabilization funding to address enrollment declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Provides stable funding referred to as “enrollment stabilization” in the 2021-22 school year if a local education agency's combined state revenue generated in the 2021-22 school year is less than what its combined state revenue would be if using 2019-20 enrollment amounts.
Authorizes the use of 2019-20 enrollment values to calculate enrichment levy limits in the 2023 calendar year and to calculate local effort assistance in the 2022 and 2023 calendar years.

EHB 1982 - Clarifying the applicability of penalty and interest on personal property taxes

Updates the property tax interest and penalty statue (RCW 84.56.020) to reinstate interest and penalty on delinquent personal property tax which was unintentionally eliminated in 2021 by ESHB 1410.
Adjusts the timing of interest calculation to align with the technical capabilities of county treasurers.

HB 2061 - Adding permanently affordable housing to the definition of public improvements.

Amends the definition of "public improvements" for purposes of the Community Revitalization Financing (CRF) program under chapter 39.89 RCW by adding "permanently affordable housing" to the list of infrastructure improvements within an "increment area" that can be funded by CRF financing.
The bill is effective 90 days after the adjournment of session in which the bill passes.

SB 5505 - Reinstating a property tax exemption for property owned by certain nonprofit organizations where a portion of the property is used for the purpose of a farmers' market.

Reinstates the provision that allowed churches and public assembly halls that were exempt from property tax to host farmers’ markets for up to 53 days per year without losing their property tax exemption.
To qualify, all the income received by the church or public assembly hall from rental or use of the exempt property must be used for capital improvements to the exempt property, maintenance and operation of the exempt property, or exempt purposes.
Applies both retroactively and prospectively to property taxes levied for collection in 2021, and after. However, no properties lost their property tax exemption during the time the provision was not in effect.

SB 5565 - Allowing fire districts and regional fire authorities to carry out certain treasure functions

Provides the option to designate by resolution an experienced person other than the county treasurer to be the district’s treasurer to:
- A fire protection district (FPD) with more than $10,000,000 in annual revenues for the preceding three consecutive years;
- A regional fire protection authority (RFA) with more than $10,000,000 in annual revenues for the preceding three years; and
- An RFA that is being formed by participating jurisdictions that cumulatively had more than $10,000,000 in annual revenues for three years prior to the formation of the RFA.
Provides the designated treasurer with the same powers, responsibilities, and duties as the county treasurer, and subjects them to the same restrictions.
Provides that FPDs that have appointed a treasurer other than as provided in this bill, may only pay out money issued on vouchers approved and signed by a majority of the district board and by the district secretary.
Takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session.

SB 5713 - Providing a property tax exemption for limited equity cooperative housing

Provides a full or partial property tax exemption for real property owned by a limited equity cooperative (LEC) that provides owned housing for low-income households under certain conditions including:

The benefit of the exemption must inure to the LEC and its members.
At least 85 percent of the occupied dwelling units in the LEC must be occupied by members of the LEC on January 1 of each assessment year for which the exemption is claimed.
At least 95 percent of the property for which the exemption is sought must be used for dwelling units or other noncommercial uses available for use by the members of the LEC.
The housing must be insured, financed, or assisted in whole or in part, through at least one of the federal, state, and local programs specified in the bill.

ESB 5800 - Modifying tax and revenue laws in a manner that is estimated to not affect state or local tax collections by easing compliance burdens for taxpayers, clarifying ambiguities, making technical corrections, and providing administrative efficiencies.Requiring excess aircraft funds be deposited by the Department into the aeronautics account, rather than depositing excess funds in an account that no longer exists.

This bill makes the following changes to the state’s tax and business licensing statutes:

Modifies how unclaimed excess funds from the public auction of an abandoned aircraft are treated by:

Requiring excess aircraft funds be deposited by the Department into the aeronautics account, rather than depositing excess funds in an account that no longer exists.
Requiring the Department to hold excess funds for one year from the date of sale of an aircraft, rather than one year from the date the Department receives the funds.

Allows the Department, and localities that use the Department’s business licensing service, to disclose licensing information to a peace officer for purposes of license review, investigation, or enforcement.
Removes the requirement that the Department report annually to the Legislature regarding the state's compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA), and instead requires the Department report to the Legislature the year immediately following any year during which the SSUTA is amended if legislation is required to keep Washington in compliance with the agreement.
Modifies the definition of “advanced computing, under RCW 82.04.299, by replacing the term "online marketplace" with "marketplace facilitator.” This change is retroactively effective January 1, 2020.
Revises the reporting period for taxpayers claiming the retail sales tax exemption for aircraft maintenance repair to October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021, under RCW 82.08.025661.
Provides that the tax preference performance review and automatic expiration provisions do not apply to the retail sales tax and use tax exemptions for marijuana products subject to a tribal marijuana tax under a tribal compacting agreement.
Clarifies that the use tax exemption for use of personal property related to farmworker housing applies when at least 50 percent of the housing units in a development are used as farmworker housing.
Enables the Department to disclose any return or tax information to a person who is individually liable, as part of a marital community, for amounts due under a tax warrant.
Revises when an annual tax performance report must be filed for deferred taxes and clarifies that the deferred tax repayment schedule is the deferred tax amount divided by the number of years in the repayment period.
Removes an erroneous legal citation under the contingent semiconductor fabrication facility siting and operation tax incentive statute.
Expires rural county business and occupation tax credits for new employees six years from the later of the year that any of these activities occur:
- The Department is notified that by the recipient that the business has ceased engaging in business within Washington, or by a representative of the recipient.
- The Department closes the recipient's tax reporting account.
- The recipient last claimed the credit on a return filed with the Department.
Provides for prorating of the state property tax levies for the support of common schools such that if the aggregate rate of state property taxes levied for collection in any calendar year after 2021 exceeds $3.60 per $1,000 of assessed value. Each rate must be reduced on a pro rata basis until the aggregate rate no longer exceeds $3.60 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Except for the change to the definition of “advanced computing,” this bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the regular legislative session of 2022. Changes to the definition of “advanced computing” apply retroactively to January 1, 2020.

ESB 5849 - An act relating to tax incentives.

Expands the number of new industrial and manufacturing facilities that may be eligible for the targeted urban areas property tax exemption by removing the requirement that the land be zoned as required by the statute by December 31, 2014. (RCW 84.25.030 and 84.25.040.)
Extends the expiration date for the preferential business and occupation (B&O) tax rate for taxpayers engaged in manufacturing and selling at wholesale solar energy systems, silicon solar wafers, silicon solar cells, thin film solar devices or compound semiconductor wafers to July 1, 2032. (RCW 82.04.294)

SSB 5862 - Concerning technical changes to the commercial property assessed clean energy and resiliency program.

Updates C-PACER program in RCW 36.165.060 which provides lien-backed loans for certain projects.
Discusses enforcement of C-PACER liens

SSB 5910 - Accelerating the availability and use of renewable hydrogen in Washington state.

Expands the definition of “electric vehicle infrastructure” to include “green electrolytic hydrogen production facilities” for the purposes of the retail sales and use tax exemptions in RCW 82.08.816 and 82.12.816, as well as for the associated leasehold excise tax exemption in RCW 82.29A.125.
“Green electrolytic hydrogen" means hydrogen produced through electrolysis and does not include hydrogen manufactured using steam reforming or any other conversion technology that produces hydrogen from a fossil fuel feedstock.
Requires the department to develop guidance that includes using a cost-based appraisal method and develop industry-specific valuation tables for county assessors to use when valuing equipment used to generate solar power, wind power, and to store electricity.