By Cindy Alia 4/21/25
Rumor has it excessive property tax increases bills are off the table, according to the Washington State Standard. Color me skeptical, but I see there is one property tax increase bill waiting a turn on the Senate Floor Calendar, as of this writing the afternoon of April 21st, SB 5798 quietly rests on a floor calendar which currently holds 13 bills. I won't rest till these folks in the legislature all go home to plan how to pick one's pocket in future sessions. Til then I do not trust the notion that bills are off the table.
Even if by all Good Graces we will not be faced extreme property tax increases, life will not be getting less expensive in Washington state by any means. For example, people of all walks of life are currently paying an average of 100 dollars for one grocery bag of healthy food at the grocery store.
But never mind, the environment and NGO grift is more important than your belly. The majority party created a scheme to tax producers of grocery packaging to create a new "non-profit". Grocery packaging—Senate Bill 5284 requires producers of particular paper and plastic packaging to participate in and fund the operations of a nonprofit organization that would collect, sort, prepare, track, and market this packaging material for reuse or recycling. Producers would pay fees in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually when the program is fully implemented. These fees, of coursee, would be embedded in the cost of groceries and household items. Washington already has the highest grocery costs among Western states. This bill will make grocery costs even more expensive than they presently are. The bill passed early Tuesday morning, 51 to 45, with all Republicans voting no, and even 8 democrats felt they had to defend themselves by voting no. However there were not enough feeling that way to prevent the bill from passing. 5284 has passed both houses, but has not yet been signed by the governor.
While not a fan of grocery packaging which is at best annoying, it still does not make me a fan of state created non-profits or underhanded backdoor taxation on already expensive groceries. Sneaky, Sneaky! Cost of living anyone!?! Ever wonder why you can't get ahead or save for a home? Instead of more taxation, let us see less government!
These tax bills are still alive and well in the legislature, learn more by reading here.
Over four years, these tax bills cost taxpayers…
- SB 5813: $1 billion to $1.5 billion
- SB 5814: $4.6 billion in state taxes, $2.7 in local taxes
- SB 5794: $600 million
- SB 5797: $100 million — a test case for a $12 billion “wealth” tax (pulled at the last minute — saved for another day)
April 21, 2025