A home’s value on paper does not tell you what its owners can afford. For people living on low or fixed incomes, rising home values do not put more money in their checking accounts.
Many homeowners spend years repairing and improving their homes with their own hands. They replace roofs, remodel kitchens, restore aging houses and carefully stretch every dollar. Their homes reflect hard work and sacrifice, not necessarily high incomes.
Yet, the value created through that “sweat equity” becomes part of the property’s taxable value. Improvements that make a home safer, more comfortable or better maintained can also add to the financial burden of keeping it.
Rising neighborhood prices can create further pressure, even when homeowners have no intention of selling. Equity cannot buy groceries or pay bills unless owners borrow against their homes or sell them.
People should not have to choose between maintaining their homes and being able to afford to stay in them.
Schools, roads and emergency services need dependable funding. But the burden should reflect people’s ability to pay.
Washington lawmakers should provide meaningful property tax relief tied to household income, with gradual eligibility cutoffs that do not leave struggling homeowners just outside the limits.
A well-maintained home benefits the whole community.
The people who work hard to improve their homes deserve a fair chance to remain in them.
James “Jake” and Pam Clark
Curtis
