This bill amends existing law to require every county to budget and annually levy specified property taxes. It amends RCW 71.20.110 to require a county levy equal to the amount that would be raised by 2.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to fund community services for persons with developmental disabilities or mental health needs. The levy must be deducted from the state property tax under RCW 84.36.005 at no cost to the county. Counties may transfer all or part of these funds to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services to obtain federal matching funds; if transferred, the state must grant the transferred funds and matching funds to service‑providing community agencies or community boards in the transferring county pursuant to the county’s approved plan and chapters 71.24, 71.28, and 71A.14 RCW. The bill also amends RCW 73.08.080 to require each county legislative authority to levy, in addition to other taxes, an amount that would raise not less than 1.8 cents and not more than 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to create a veterans’ assistance fund. That levy must likewise be deducted from the state property tax under RCW 84.36.005 at no cost to the county. Expenditures from the veterans’ assistance fund and any interest earned are limited to (1) veterans’ assistance programs authorized by RCW 73.08.010, (2) lawful disposition of remains as defined in RCW 68.04.020 for a deceased indigent veteran or deceased family member as authorized by RCW 73.08.070, and (3) direct and indirect administration costs of the fund. Legally, the measure modifies existing statutes to impose new mandatory county taxing and funding procedures and to set permitted uses for the veterans’ fund; it is a procedural and fiscal change to tax and grant administration rather than a change in criminal penalties. The act is declared an emergency and takes effect July 1, 2025. The extracted text shows deletions of prior provisions that addressed levy adjustment and related mechanics; without the full statutes or legislative history, the final rules for levy adjustments, reductions, or administrative transfers are unclear from these facts.

If enacted, every county will be required to add two annual property tax levies: one generating the equivalent of 2.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value dedicated to community services for people with developmental disabilities or mental health needs, and a separate levy set between 1.8 and 27 cents per $1,000 to fund a veterans' assistance account. The state will handle collection by deducting these levy amounts from the state property tax roll under RCW 84.36.005 at no charge to counties, counties may transfer some or all of the developmental-disability/mental-health levy to DSHS to secure federal matching funds, and veterans’ fund money may only be spent on statutorily authorized veterans’ programs, disposition of remains for indigent veterans or family members, and fund administration. The law would take effect July 1, 2025. Counties are most directly affected because they must budget and impose these levies each year and administer or coordinate transfers to DSHS and grants to local service providers; property taxpayers will pay the levies in practice. Service-providing community agencies and veterans’ programs stand to receive new or more predictable funding if counties levy and, for disability/mental-health funds, if counties opt to transfer funds for federal matching. Because the bill removes prior statutory text about levy adjustments and administrative computations, there is uncertainty about how future levy reductions, limits, or administrative cost handling will be implemented unless clarified elsewhere.