Citizens Active in Local Government
HB1899 Rebuild After Fire – Helpful
Pete’s Bills is a short list of important bills that have been read and should be testified on in his opinion. If you are one of those who is happy to sit back on the couch and only complain after a law is in effect, this is probably not enjoyable reading for you. Continue reading “HB1899 Rebuild After Fire Helpful”
Emergency SB6095...
Pete’s Bills is a short list of important bills that have been read and should be testified on in his opinion. If you are one of those who is happy to sit back on the couch and only complain after a law is in effect, this is probably not enjoyable reading for you. Continue reading “Emergency SB 6095 Secretary of Health Orders”
Let’s walk through testifying on your first bill taken from Pete’s Bills (01-17-2023) HB2119 Medical Debt Garnishment
Washington State Legislator Website … it is where the journey across the swamp begins. Unfortunately, it is where you can get lost and drown before you even start. It is better to skip over this welcoming home page. Because you virtually can not find “where to log in” from the home page. Go here instead.
Unfortunately, you can only select one bill at a time at the end of this process. So, you have to go through this process for every bill you have read and want to testify on.
BEFORE LOGIN OR ACCOUNT CREATION
If you have not yet created an account, you will see a page that looks like this. No worries, you can easily fill out the form and make your account before you do anything else. Be sure to “Bookmark” that new CSI sign-in page after you have created your account, it will save you so much time.
The CSI Account Page magically transforms after you sign in. It becomes the House Committee Sign-In Page! This is where we select Which Committee is working on the bill that we want to comment on, and, what date, and finally the bill we want to testify on.
House, Senate, Joint, or Agency. HINT: You can tell that this is a “House bill” because the House puts “HB” before the bill number.
WHAT COMMITTEE?
At first, you only see one drop-down box on this page. Choose the committee first by clicking on the drop-down arrow and highlighting “Civil Rights & Judiciary” from the list that appears below.
WHAT DATE?
Right away, you will see another pop-up appear on the right, asking you to choose What Date from the committee schedule. Select, “January 17, 2024”.
WHAT ITEM?
Magically, a list appears below entitled, “Select Agenda Items“. It is a list showing all the bills for that date with selection buttons on the left. Click to pick which ONE you want. Then “Select the type of testimony” by clicking on whatever types are still there for us to use below.
The possible types are “In-person” during the hearing, “Remotely”, “Position Noted for the Legislated Record (Vote-Only)”, or “Written Testimony”. They stop taking testimony for each bill at different times depending on where it is in their process.
It is extremely hard to keep track of where the bills travel. If we are too late the list gets shorter and even disappears for submitting testimony. Be patient with yourself, it takes time to travel and learn the paths in this swamp.
This warning should be shown on all the Legislative website pages at the top of their pages.
Do you want to avoid increased building costs involved with the “NEW BUILDING CODES”? Then it is imperative that you accomplish the following steps BEFORE OCTOBER 19TH, 2023.
New building codes will be going into effect on October 29, 2023. One of the most dangerous parts of those new codes is the;
…removal of your right to freely choose to use propane as a source of energy and/or heat in your home.
In our community, this edict could easily be a death sentence in the middle of winter. We historically loose electrical power for extended periods of time during sub-zero freezing weather.
Join Us!, for the Washington State Dept of Natural Resources &
Spokane Conservation District informational
LOCATION:
Riverside High School
4120 E Deer Park Milan Rd
Chattaroy, WA 99003
Topics include:
· Assessing tree survivability
· Salvage Logging
· Forest practices and regulations
· Slope instability
· Reforestation
· Noxious weeds
· Forest health
· Assistance programs
Taxes and Building Codes, Then What? You already know about 3 steps we have taken post wildfire from our previous post.
Before you jump into cleaning up and building take a look at this. Destroyed Property Tax form! If you fail to submit a form before you start, the property tax assessor’s office will not give you a break on taxes at all. But is all the paperwork worth it? It is not a huge break, but maybe every little bit counts for those of us who have lost everything.
Destroyed Property Form (Fillable PDF Application)
Destroyed Property Form (B&W Printable Application)
State Laws (For Your Information)
The second form to submit, is needed if you have already paid property taxes this year so you can request a refund on those taxes. Honestly, the value of your home has decreased quite a bit! Are you looking at a pile of ashes where your home used to be?
There will be no reductions on your taxes prior to the fire for this year. The Spokane County Tax Office will keep the full value of your property taxes paid for the first part of the year, through to August 18th (date of the fire). After you send in the form to the assessor’s office, they will have to come out and verify how much of a “loss of value” you have experienced. What percentage. They will then reduce the taxes on the remainder of this years taxes by that percentage.
If you are rebuilding, when you are done, the taxes will immediately return to 100% full blast again. Furthermore, the tax collector will not suffer any losses, because, during the next tax levy period they “can and will” raise the rates to cover their losses from this, “tax break”. Our taxes will increase again.
Remember that when you are at the bottom
there is only one way to go, UP!
Not Really!3 year tax break? There are some credits available to apply for but if you read all the paperwork you will see that as soon as you rebuild, those credit’s disappear into thin air. The worst part is that the Assessors Office can make up the difference for their losses in tax collection during the next levy period. So, the fire disaster victims do not get a 3-year break from our high property tax assessments after all.
Here is what the Spokane Tax Assessor Announced:
SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. – Spokane County Assessor Tom Konis issued a statement making wildfire victims aware of property tax relief available to those suffering from destroyed property because of the Gray and Oregon Road fires…
FAQ Guide About Destroyed Property (6 pages long) from the Washington State Department of Revenue, along with additional details on the state law. After reading through all of it, what looks most important… just in case you are a little busy with that disaster thingy.
If you have damages that exceed 20% of the assessed value on your property tax assessment, you can apply for a 3 year break on your taxes. Applications must be submitted prior to starting construction on new improvements…
Q15 They will prorate the taxes for this year….
Q16. What happens if I replace the destroyed property?
If the destroyed property is replaced with new construction… the taxable value for that assessment year will include the new construction value as of July 31. The total value will take into consideration the new construction as well as the value reduction due to destroyed property. The value of any portion of new construction completed after July 31 will be added to the assessment roll for the next assessment year.
Q19. How is the reduction or refund of current year taxes calculated?
Q20. If property taxes have already been paid, the county will issue a refund based on the assessed value reduction.
Q23. Can taxing districts impose an administrative refund levy for collection in the subsequent tax year based on the destroyed property adjustments?
Destroyed Property Form (PDF Application)
Destroyed Property Form (B&W Printable Application)
We must remember to request a refund from the Dept of Revenue, by filling out a Petition For Property Tax Refund form. Be sure to remember these three generous politicians in the next election.
Spokane County WA, Tax Assessment Office Assessor’s Website Homepage: 509-477-3698
Spokane County Treasurer
Chair of the Board of County Commissioners and representing District 4.
“The New American magazine has just released its first Freedom Index and Congressional Scorecards for the (current) 118th Congress. These scorecards rate members of Congress on how faithfully they are upholding their solemn oath “to support this Constitution.”
Also, don’t forget our state Legislative Scorecards, which rate state legislators from all 50 states on their adherence to the U.S. Constitution and limited-government principles.”
These are gems of information about exactly what our elected officials do. Real good information. Washington officials have a really low grade. Patty Murry was 100% anti-constitutional across-the-board scores with her voting record. NOT someone I want to vote for!
It is just so amazing to me how disinterested in public opinion and constituent desires our politicians are. They are out there doing their own thing on our tax dollars and think they are entitled. Hoping for HONEST elections and a new soup broth in our government stewpot before everything in the United States is ruined.
What is involved with becoming a weekly activist? A responsible active citizen? Get off of the couch and turn off the television. Then, what? Well, a lot of stubborn dedication & willingness to read a lot! Really a lot!
Become the police officer
sitting in the parking lot as the bar closes.
The best forms of prevention for DUI offenders is an officer keeping an eye out in the parking lot as the bar closes. When an officer prevents a stumbling person from driving home from that parking lot? How many lives are saved?
We can assist our Washington State lawmaking process by being willing to communicate our views with the elected officials in Olympia.
Last week, we made a list of legislative bills (01-30-2023 to 02-03-2023). There were about 250 bills on our spreadsheet after an investigation into the schedule. Each day listed about 50 bills, but on Friday the list was a little shorter (30 bills). I share a list with members of our group so we can sort through all this info as a team.
We are always in the process of recruiting like-minded friends/neighbors who may be willing to take a portion of the list on themselves. We can divide it up into more manageable workloads between us. If you would like to be involved, or if you know of a better way to do it, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Peter and I split this list up between us. First, we read the summary of the bill, then decide if we need to read the entire bill before knowing enough to vote PRO, CON, or Otherwise. Sometimes we need to actually read the law mentioned in the bill, to fully understand the impact it is proposing. AAARGH! We put our comments on the spreadsheet and share them with others. We do this to make it easier, our views are not so others will copy what we say.
Learning how to communicate our own common sense opinions with the politicians that represent us, in Olympia, BEFORE they vote on the proposed bills.
Please take a moment to signup for this free course entitled, “Influencing Olympia Effectively“. It has been very helpful in teaching most of us how to navigate the Washington State Website which is a horribly difficult website to learn how to use.
American Freedoms Forever!
Homeless Solutions were the topic. Thursday night was chilly at Whitworth college but the lecture hall was warm and full of concerned local residents. There weren’t many seats left open. New Hope Resource Center in Colbert WA invited renowned architect/author, Charles Durrett to speak. He began by pointing out that 206 homeless people died last year in Spokane. The deaths aren’t the only problem, there are significant additional costs to our community each year because of homelessness. Costs of $30-60k per homeless person are incurred for increased emergency medical services, law enforcement, and incarceration events. Solving the homeless problem may not be free of charge, but, doing something about it now makes a lot of sense.
Durrett shared about many of the successful “village” projects he has designed around the world. These communities have produced so many positive outcomes. He shared the grassroots strategies used to enable “doing something now” about homelessness, instead of waiting for a bureaucracy to move on to finding a solution.
Communities voluntarily have worked together to handle finances, planning, and permits, along with materials and labor costs. Working together they have successfully built communities where homeless people have a roof over their heads with a locking door. By providing a safe place to live we allow a person to connect with neighbors and build a community. “Villages” become a place of transition where disconnected homeless people can manage themselves, and then become part of society again.
Charles Durrett revealed methods to solve homelessness now. He talked with many people afterward. We left with a mood full of hope and the motivation to step out and make a difference. Become a part of Homeless Solutions in Spokane WA, and attend a public meeting tomorrow at the North Spokane County Library starting at 9:30 am.
