This bill amends RCW 84.70.010 to add and revise provisions allowing property tax relief for qualifying single-family dwellings that were reduced in value or destroyed by a natural disaster. It defines "improvement" and "qualifying single-family dwelling," makes physical improvements exempt from taxation for three assessment years after completion (limited to the amount of the value reduction), and treats the value of those improvements as new construction for purposes of chapters 36.21 and 84.55 RCW. The bill also adds a provision that RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 do not apply to this act. The changes are procedural and tax-related rather than criminal or penalty changes. Key procedural changes include extending the latest date county assessors may approve exemption applications from June 30, 2026, to June 30, 2031, and creating an exception that lets a taxpayer who began construction before the section’s effective date because of a natural disaster occurring on or after December 1, 2025, apply by October 1, 2026. The bill specifies how reductions and abatements are timed and calculated (including that damage must occur on or before December 31 of a year to affect that assessment year, no reductions more than three years after the damage, and calculation and refund procedures with a reference to RCW 84.69.020), allows appeals to the county board of equalization under RCW 84.40.038, and states Section 1 applies to taxes levied for collection in 2027 and thereafter. This is a modification of existing law (an amendment to RCW 84.70.010) that creates a tax exemption and changes application deadlines and administrative procedures. The text references a department to prepare forms and adopt rules, but that department is not named in the extracted material. The exact effective date of the section is not specified in the provided facts, and the statute language uses the term "natural disaster" without explicitly naming the atmospheric river or winter weather event referenced elsewhere.

If enacted, owners of single-family homes in governoror county-declared disaster areas whose homes lost more than 20% of value from qualifying natural disasters can get a temporary property tax break: physical repairs or rebuilding that increase the home's value are exempt from tax for three assessment years, but only up to the amount the property was found to have lost in value. Taxes for the year of damage can be abated and refunded, and those improvements are treated as new construction for later valuation purposes. The bill lets affected homeowners apply for the exemption under extended deadlines (counties cannot approve late applications after June 30, 2031) and creates a narrow exception allowing people who started rebuilding because of a disaster on or after December 1, 2025 to apply by October 1, 2026; the changes apply to taxes levied for collection in 2027 and after. Homeowners and their relatives who kept legal ownership amid the loss are the main beneficiaries, likely seeing lower property tax bills and possible refunds; county assessors and county governments are the main parties bearing costs and administrative work, because they must notify taxpayers, process applications, adopt forms and rules prepared by a state department (not named here), and will collect less tax revenue on exempted improvements for up to three years and handle appeals to county boards of equalization. The extract does not state the act’s precise effective date beyond applying to 2027 collections, nor does it name the department that must issue forms, so some timing and administrative details remain unclear.