WHY A ROLLBACK ISN'T IN THE CARDS

Why isn't the rollback issue part of our campaign for property tax relief?

Let's start by defining the problem: runaway property taxes! With property values jumping at such alarming rates, we have no idea how much we will be writing our checks for each year.

Fixing the problem requires limiting assessment increases to 1% per year, which in essence will freeze property tax amounts for individuals.

So how do we go about doing that?

According to our research, any change to the property tax structure requires a constitutional amendment. Implicit in this requirement is the inability to deal with the issue on a local level. It is not within a county or any local government's jurisdiction to make these changes. A change to the constitution cannot be made through an initiative or popular vote, it must have the approval of two-thirds of the house and two-thirds of the senate to go forward. Once that is achieved, and only if that is achieved, can it be put to a vote by the people.

Amending the Uniformity Clause (Sect VII) of our State Constitution is what this amendment would have to accomplish. Section VII states all properties (commercial, residential, industrial, and bare land) must all be assessed equally.

To illustrate the situation, let's use California's Prop 13 as an example. For Californians, the road to changing property tax assessments and valuations only required getting enough signatures on a petition to qualify it for inclusion on the ballot: once that was accomplished, a simple majority saved the day.

Here is how Prop 13 worked and how it differs from the situation we have with the Uniformity Clause: There are two houses next door to each other, exactly alike.

Mr. A bought his house years ago and paid 100K. When Prop 13 was voted in, 100K is where his property valuation was frozen for as long as he owns his property. Because of that freeze, he knows from one year to the next what to expect when his tax bill comes. He has predictability. He now has the ability to budget for the future.

Mr. B bought his house last year and paid 500K, for essentially the same house. Now his property value is frozen at 500K, since his is a new sale. This is legal because Prop 13 (which not only froze property values, but made that freeze retroactive) states all properties keep their valuation at a specific point in time (except for new construction and new sales). And although Mr. B will be paying more taxes for an identical house, he understood that at the time of his purchase. But he also knows from one year to the next how much his taxes will be. He too has predictability.

California's state constitution allows for changes in property tax structure to be implemented by a proposition.

In Washington, because of the Uniformity Clause which states all properties must be valued "equally", our state constitution prohibits that option. Both Mr. A and Mr. B's properties must forever be valued at the current market value. And that value is assessed, depending on district, every 4 years, every 3 years, every 2 years, or every year.

As you can imagine, the requirement of a constitutional amendment makes any change a tough sell. The Constitution of the United States has only been amended a handful of times because an amendment to a constitution is forever and, therefore, the road to any change is a difficult and long one. And Washington has a very strong constitution.

But this is the only avenue available to us. While a rollback would ease the worries of many property owners, the reality of achieving any freeze at all tells us demanding a rollback is an "unwinable" battle.

Why?

BECAUSE WE MUST WORK WITH OUR LEGISLATORS

Our battle requires us to approach our legislators: our elected officials. They are the only ones who can submit legislation to change the constitution.

So we contact our representatives and tell them we feel the way property taxes are assessed is unfair and we want a change. We want our property values frozen so we will know from one year to the next just how much property tax we'll be paying. We may have their attention at this point. Sounds very interesting. They may get their fellow legislators interested in such a change. If they do, the next step is convincing their fellow legislators to draft a bill, which would then go to Committee. Drafting a bill for submission requires a great deal of time and research.

But the most important question our representatives will want answered is: how will freezing property taxes affect their constituents, the voters?

Making the rollback issue a dealbreaker is where this uphill battle will shut down. Our representatives will tell you that their constituents voted for taxes to pay for schools and police and fire. They will tell you if property values are rolled back, they must tell their constituents that their vote to fund for schools, fire, and police will be adversely affected: lowering property values retroactively will mean decreasing the budgets for these and other services. Also, in order to propose this legislation, our representatives must convince two-thirds of their fellow legislators to decrease these budgets. And there it will end. The people will be deprived of the opportunity to vote on this issue for the simple reason that freezing property valuations is not determined by a simple vote of the people but must first come before legislators to make it happen.

So in order to get what we want, we are put in the position of "romancing" our legislators. There will be no romance if we tell them we want to decrease revenues retroactively. This is an election year; they want to keep their jobs. So a major hurdle is created. And that is precisely why this limited window of time before the short session begins in January is so vital. We do not have time to waste.

As for myself, I spent much of my "free" in my former home state, California, trying to improve the quality of life for my neighbors . My path of activism required my interaction with elected officials. I learned firsthand how government works and what must be done in order to be heard.

A wish list is a wonderful thing, but we have to have a viable plan to achieve implementation. We not only have to understand our issue; we must know our opponents. That will define what we will to be able to accomplish.

We believe the rollback issue is too difficult a hurdle to conquer, so we are taking a more practical approach. One that has more chance of succeeding. It is better to take advantage of the small window we have available right now, instead of embarking on a path that will delay the process. If we miss our opportunity to achieve any freeze, however imperfect; it leaves us with nothing done. Our properties will continue to increase in value, and so will our gargantuan tax bills!

Right now we have a golden opportunity to attempt this amendment because many of the legislators are up for election in 2006, and they will want to please their constituents. 2007 is not an "election year": our chances of their listening to our needs if we miss this opportunity are greatly decreased.

We hope this explains in a clear and detailed fashion why we have tailored our campaign as we have.

We are in the process of meeting with our elected representatives and we will give you an update as soon as possible. Keep checking the "What's being done now?" link on this website.

Meanwhile, contact your representatives to tell them how you feel. This is extremely important. Your representatives need to hear from you on this issue! Now! And frequently.

We can do this!

Shelley Taylor