Belas v. Kiga
Washington Supreme Court
959 P.2d 1037 (1998)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Voters approved a referendum in Washington that changed the way real property was assessed for tax purposes. In light of rapidly increasing real-property values, the referendum capped the amount a property value could increase in a single year. In effect, the referendum also capped property-tax increases for properties whose appraised value increased more than the cap. Under the system, however, the total amount of taxes levied was required to remain the same. The result was that tax burdens were shifted to owners of property, with values that were depreciating or appreciating only slightly but staying under the cap. A group of elected county assessors (plaintiffs) sued the Washington Department of Revenue (defendant), alleging that the referendum violated the Washington Constitution. Specifically, the constitution required that property taxes on the same classes of property be uniform. The state imposed an ad valorem tax on real property, with all real property comprising the same class.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Guy, J.)
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