The income limit for seniors, disabled, or service-connected disabled veterans to qualify for a property tax exemption jumped across Washington state this year, and the number of individuals applying for the break has dramatically increased in Kitsap County through the first half of 2024.

The Washington State Legislature passed the Substitute House Bill 1355 in 2023, which raised the income threshold from 65% of the median household income to 70%, which is $65,000 for Kitsap County residents.

As of Wednesday, 936 Kitsap County homeowners have applied for the tax exemption since the change. The application number increased by 74% compared with the 537 applications the Kitsap County Assessor’s Office received at the same time of the year in 2023, according to the assessor’s office.

For all of 2023, the office received 783 applications, Kitsap County Assessor Phil Cook said in an email.

With the increase of the household income limits, the office is anticipating more applicants, Cook said.

“I would expect this trend to continue through the rest of the year,” Cook said. “Our forecast was upwards of 1200+ new applications could be submitted this year. Based on years past when the legislature has increased the income limits, the application volume has increased by up to 50% the following year.”

Since the state’s property tax is budget-based, the exemption doesn’t affect the overall collection of property taxes for the taxing districts. The approval of an exemption creates a “tax shift,” meaning as one gets the exemption, those taxes end up being redistributed among other parcels that aren’t receiving an exemption, Cook said.

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Who qualifies for the property tax exemption?

Specifically, the qualification for the tax exemption depends on one’s ownership, age or disability, and household income in the past year.

Applicants must own and occupy their house, mobile home, condo, or co-op as their principal residence and that has been their principal residence for over 6 months in 2023. They need to be at least 61 years old by December 31 last year, or disabled, or veterans with at least 80% service-connected disability. People whose deceased spouse or registered domestic partner had an exemption at the time of death and they were at least 57 years old that year may also qualify.

As for household income, there are three levels of tax exemption. For those whose household income is between $56,001 and $65,000, their home will be exempt from all excess or special levies, meaning the levies that require voter approval and provide money for a specific purpose.

For those who have a household income between $46,001 and $56,000, they don’t have to pay for all the excess or special levies and their home can be exempt from regular levies for $50,000 or 35% of the assessed value, whichever is greater, not to exceed $70,000 of assessed value.

For those with a household income between $46,000 and zero, their home is exempt from regular levies on the first $60,000 or 60% of their home’s assessed value, whichever is greater, besides the exception from all excess or special levies.

In the previous income thresholds, the ranges of the three income levels are between $48,574 and $41,101, between $41,101 and $33,628, and between $33,628 and zero.

Those who’d like to apply can visit the county’s website at https://www.kitsap.gov/assessor/Pages/Senior-and-Disabled-Exemption-Changes-2024.aspx for more information.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Seniors, disabled income limits for Washington tax exemption raise