This bill amends existing law in RCW 82.45.060, which imposes a real estate excise tax on each sale of real property. It preserves the 1.28% rate through December 31, 2019 and establishes a tiered rate structure beginning January 1, 2020 (1.1% on the portion up to $500,000; 1.28% on the portion over $500,000 up to $1,500,000; 2.75% on the portion over $1,500,000 up to $3,000,000; and 3% on the portion over $3,000,000). Sales of property classified as timberland or agricultural land remain taxed at 1.28% of the selling price. The bill makes procedural and definitional changes: it requires periodic adjustments to the selling-price thresholds every four years beginning July 1, 2022, using the growth in the consumer price index for shelter (capped at 5% and frozen if growth is zero or negative), shifts the other thresholds by the resulting dollar increase, rounds adjusted thresholds to the nearest $1,000, and requires publication by September 1 with effect the following January 1. The department identified in the statute must publish seller guidance on classifying property for the excise tax affidavit, is solely responsible for verifying classifications as part of its audit duties under RCW 82.45.150, and must report threshold adjustments to the legislature’s fiscal committees beginning December 1, 2022 and every fourth year thereafter. The bill also restates deposit rules for tax proceeds: specified percentage allocations apply for July 1, 2013 through December 31, 2019, and deposits beginning January 1, 2020 are governed by RCW 82.45.230 (the specific post‑2020 allocations are not included here). Important context is missing from the extracted text: the specific state agency referred to as “the department” is not identified; the actual allocation language in RCW 82.45.230 is not provided; the cited definitions and compliance requirements in chapters 84.33 and 84.34 RCW and in RCW 84.33.140(13)(j) and 84.34.108(6)(m) are not included; the Department of Natural Resources is listed as the bill requester but its implementation role is not described here; and the timberland definition in the text shows an unexplained formatting anomaly.

If enacted, this bill makes the state department named in the statute (not identified in the extracted text) the central administrator for real estate excise tax rules: it must set and publish periodically adjusted selling‑price thresholds every four years, publish guidance to help sellers classify property on the excise tax affidavit, and take sole responsibility for verifying seller classifications through audits instead of county treasurers. Practically, sellers of real property will continue to need to declare a predominant use for multiuse properties and face department audits rather than county review, while county treasurers are relieved of verification duties; the department will likely incur additional ongoing administrative and reporting work and costs to prepare guidance, run audits, adjust thresholds, and report to legislative fiscal committees. The bill preserves a 1.28% rate for sales of timberland and agricultural land and lists historical deposit splits for 2013–2019, but directs post‑2020 deposits to RCW 82.45.230; the extracted text does not include that section, so the practical effect on how excise tax revenue is allocated among the public works assistance account, education legacy trust account, city‑county assistance account, and the general fund after January 1, 2020 is unclear. Important implementation details are also missing from the extract: which specific state department is responsible, the exact post‑2020 deposit allocations, and the referenced statutes that define timberland and the compliance requirements for governmental buyers.