Senate Bill 5770 was among the biggest threats this session. The bill would have raised the more than 20-year-old 1% cap on the growth of state and local property taxes to 3%, allowing cities and counties to increase property taxes by that much every year without voter approval, creating a devastating compounding effect.

The compounding effect of SB 5770:

• Increase state and local property tax collections by an estimated $4.4 billion over the next five years; and
• Bloat to over $12 billion in new property tax revenue by 2034.

Washington is currently ranked fifth worst in the country for housing affordability and seventh worst for rent affordability. The potential passage of SB 5770 would only exacerbate the housing crisis.

Thankfully the collective efforts of Republicans in both chambers killed the bill.