KGMI News
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Area legislators are responding to the funding mechanism for the one time property tax cut the Washington legislature passed Thursday night.
The supplemental operating budget sent to Governor Inslee includes a provision to reduce property taxes just under $200 for owners of a $650,000 home, paid for from the so-called “rainy day fund”.
Republican 39th district senator Keith Wagner of Sedro-Woolley called the funding mechanism a “looting” in a Friday press release while welcoming the tax cut itself.
Republican 10th District Senator Barbara Bailey of Oak Harbor said the plan is “gimmick” that violates a voter-approved Senate joint resolution in 2011 that required extraordinary revenue growth to be deposited in the state’s budget stabilization account during periods of strong economic growth.
The tax cut will divert $700 million from the budget stabilization account.