Hurst oped to the Seattle Times on property taxes

Owning a home in a safe neighborhood is the key to the American Dream.

For too many hard-working people in Washington State, that dream is threatened by the subprime mortgage mess, skyrocketing home prices and higher property taxes they can't afford to pay.

Three common stories

There are seniors who've worked all their lives, paid off their home and retired only to find that their retirement checks can't keep up with the rising property tax bill.

There are working families who bought homes five years ago for a decent price who suddenly find that their home has doubled in value and so have the taxes.

And there are middle-class people who are simply being squeezed between the mortgage payments, the cost of filling up their tanks when gas is creeping up on $4 a gallon and health care costs that just keep going up while their paychecks stay flat.

I bet you have friends and family who fit those stories. Maybe your own family is in a tight spot, and you worry every month that you'll have to make the heart-breaking decision to sell the home and move.

I believe there are too many stories like this, and that families in Washington State deserve a bit of protection from rising property taxes.

The problem

Voters passed Initiative 747 to put a lid on how fast property taxes could go up. Voters said 1 percent.

The Supreme Court recently overturned that initiative, ruling it unconstitutional because of problems in how it was drafted.

Now local governments can vote to raise property taxes without worrying about that 1 percent limit.

It's up to the Legislature to fix this problem.

Quick reform

I believe the House and Senate should pass a law restoring the 1 percent lid on property taxes. Voters clearly want it and families clearly need it.

Last session, I anticipated this problem, so I wrote a bill to make the 1 percent lid into law. The bill -- House Bill 2117 – would have received 46 votes in favor. That was four short of moving the bill out of the House and into the Senate.

I will push for quick reform on property taxes to protect our taxpayers from getting hit with even higher property taxes.  That was the will of the people when the Initiative was passed, and it remains so today.

The bigger picture

No one likes the bite that taxes take out of their income, but everyone likes the services that they pay for: police and firefighters, roads and schools.

I think the property tax is despised partly because it's so unpredictable. You get a notice in the mail, wham, here's the bill. Sure, some people pay it monthly, as part of their mortgage, so they don't feel the sudden pain like other people do. But it still hurts more because it's a surprise and impossible to predict.

I believe we need tax reform to make our tax system more simple, more fair and more predictable.

The 1-percent lid on property tax hikes is a piece of that puzzle.

There are other ideas being considered for property taxes. One is the homestead exemption, which would give every homeowner a break on the first $100,000 in value on their home.  Whatever is decided, it’s important that the Legislature remember that we serve our constituents, and they voted overwhelmingly in support of the 1-percent lid.

Stand up and speak out

This issue isn't easy. The man who sponsored I-747 is Tim Eyman, and Eyman has a history of writing initiatives that are poorly drafted and likely to get tossed out in court. Eyman doesn't seem to mind since that means more repeat business for him.

But though I'm no cheerleader for Eyman, the idea behind 747 isn't his alone, and it's the right thing to do.

If you care about property tax relief, please take a minute to stand up and speak out. Call the Legislative Hotline (800-562-6000), write your local lawmakers or send an e-mail.

Owning a home shouldn't turn into a nightmare. We can pass reforms to protect this part of the American Dream.

Christopher Hurst served 25 years as a police detective, including undercover work, before being elected to the state House of Representatives. He can be reached at hurst.christopher@leg.wa.gov or 360-786-7866.