By Dominique Scarimbolo, CAPR King Chapter President, 2/16/26
Bottom Line:
SSB 6162 is not a bad bill — but it is not meaningful property tax reform. It expands an existing relief program for a narrow group and rebrands part of the tax system, without fixing the underlying problems driving Washington’s property tax crisis.
What This Bill Actually Does
1) Expands existing senior/disabled/veteran exemptions (modest relief for a narrow group)
This bill raises income thresholds and increases the amount of home value that can be exempted for qualifying seniors, disabled individuals, and some veterans.
This helps some people stay in their homes — which is good.
However, this program already existed. This bill expands it slightly; it does not create new protections for most homeowners.
2) Rebrands the state property tax as the “state school levy”
The bill requires tax statements to label the state portion of property tax as the “state school levy.”
This does not reduce taxes.
This does not expand exemptions.
This does not reform how property taxes work.
It is a messaging change — not a structural change.
3) Consolidates how the state property tax is structured
The bill merges technical components of the state levy into a single levy.
This does not lower the tax rate.
This does not cap future growth.
This does not limit levy stacking.
This is administrative cleanup, not reform.
4) Makes small technical updates to farm equipment exemptions
This updates language because of the levy consolidation.
It does not meaningfully expand exemptions.
What This Bill Does NOT Do
SSB 6162 does not:
Reduce property tax rates
Cap assessed values
Address levy stacking
Fix mass appraisal practices
Enforce uniformity
Protect working families
Limit local government levy abuse
Reform the McCleary-driven tax shift
Provide relief for small businesses
Address people being taxed out of their homes
Create systemic accountability for assessors
Change how fast taxes can rise
In other words:
The underlying property tax system remains untouched.
Why This Matters
With dozens of sponsors, this bill allows legislators to claim they “did something” about property taxes — without taking on the politically difficult work of real reform.
This is a familiar pattern:
Appear responsive
Expand a small relief program
Rebrand taxes in friendlier language
Leave the system itself unchanged
That’s not reform. That’s reform theater.
CAPR’s Position Logically
This bill is not harmful, and helping seniors stay in their homes is worthwhile.
But it should not be sold to the public as property tax reform.
Real reform would include:
Structural limits on levy stacking
Enforceable uniformity
Caps on assessment growth
Transparency in how valuations are calculated
Protections for working families and small property owners
Accountability for systemic overassessment
Until those issues are addressed, expanding exemptions for a narrow group is not reform — it is an admission that the system itself is broken.
In short:
SSB 6162 is better described as property tax reform theater — not meaningful reform.
February 16, 2026