Talking To Your Representative

Talking to your Representative is pretty easy to do while attending a Townhall Meeting at the Inland Grange.

Representative L Christian Townhall — https://content.govdeli wondering if it is worth very.com/accounts/WALEGHRCCHRISTIAN/bulletins/3c58935

Talking to your Representative is pretty easy to do while attending a Townhall Meeting this past Saturday at the Inland Grange. Leonard Christian is a down to earth person and easy to talk to. Researching the Bills that they are doing in Olympia starts again in January, here is where we look up that stuff.

So many interesting things…

Squatting on vacant land has not been prevented by the County.

We talked about recent squatters on Bridges Rd were easily able to pose as owners on vacant land. The real landowners had to file suit and fight for a year to be able to evict them at their own costs. Our Representative assured that the land would not be able to be sold by a squatter because the Title search would stop the sale. It still seems wrong that a squatter is so easily able to forge signatures and transfer public County records to their name, though.

Governor Inslee has filed permits to build and then move into a new home complex at Hauser Lake when he retires from Olympia.

Honestly, that is just too close for comfort for me! Hauser Lake current property owners can expect immediate raises in their tax assessment values, and I wonder if we will be able to use the lake after he parks there.

How about rent control for the elderly in manufactured homes?

Leonard does not believe that rent control is a good approach to bringing housing costs down. Instead more homes need to be built so that the costs can go down. The laws of supply and demand.

Ways to approach enforcement of debris removal

…on neighborhood junkyard properties was discussed. It is so good to talk about it but action is what is wanted. There are bosses that can be called for solutions when County offices don’t do their job.

The $8 fee for a “Ferry tax” is crazy for us on the East side of Washington.

Talk went on to all the costs going up, ie; gas, groceries, taxes are my own bothersome subject of real estate prices skyrocketing while we are struggling to rebuild our homes. Many of our neighbors have given up and moved, after the fire. I am in the middle of appealing a 45% tax assessment hike in land value for our property in the middle of a totally destroyed area off of Eistrup Rd. The beautiful trees are gone and so is all the privacy we used to have. It is now a place completely barren that looks like a war zone. He has served on the Board Of Equalization and knows a lot about how appeals work.

I wonder if our Representative can setup a way to teach a taxpayer to understand the reports the Assessor’s office send. Can he teach us how to go about the research needed for a successful appeal? It would be a positive step to empower the taxpayer so that we fully understanding the process, wouldn’t it?

I am still standing!

A citizen that is involved, knowledgeable and heard wears a smile.

Valerie Woelk

HB1899 Rebuild After Fire Helpful

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 SB 6095 Secretary of Health Orders

Emergency SB6095...

A Walk-Through Testifying

Into the Swamp

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.

COMMITTEE (CSI) SIGN-IN ACCOUNT PAGE

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

CSI before Sign In 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.

CSI AFTER LOGGING IN

CSI after LogIn

HOUSE COMMITTEE SIGN-IN PAGE

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.

House CSI

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.

House CSI Select Date

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”.

House CSI Select Agenda Item 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.

Before session
In Session
Out of Session

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.

Warning! Access is COUNTER-INTUITIVE Proceed at your own risk!

Coming soon, You can refer to this other post that teaches you “How to make a CSI account” for yourself. The check is in the mail.

Avoid Increased Building Costs

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.

Steps

Using the “destroyed property” reduced (form), we will signup to get the tax valuation. See a previous blog article explaining thought on that, 3 -Year-Tax-Break for Disaster Victims
We have already drawn a plot diagram of our land and marked where our “destroyed home” had been and also noted where water, septic and temporary electric are located.
We plan to fill-out demolition permit paperwork at the Spokane County Building Department Office. The cost for half a year long demolition permit has been reduced, from $325 to $25. We don’t need an asbestos permit to file this paperwork, because we can get it later (see #5). This demolition permit can later be changed into a building permit. Again, protection from the new more expensive codes forced in the October 29th edition.
Construction permit paperwork, if we can not get it done in time (submitted before Oct 29th, 2023) we face a, “NO PROPANE” dismal situation.
ASBESTOS TEST? Is there is a mortgage on your home? We are going to check with our Mortgage Company to ask them to pay for the testing. They are required to have asbestos testing in their insurance coverage for each home loan. If they do not have this, then call The Office of the Insurance Commissioner at 800-562-6900 and report them.

DNR & Spokane Conservation District

Join Us!, for the Washington State Dept of Natural Resources &
Spokane Conservation District informational

“Post Fire Assistance” Meeting

for

Oregon Rd Fire victims

Thursday, September 7^th

5:30pm-7:30pm

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

Download Announcement Here

Taxes and Building Codes,Then What?

Pete standing above main elec panels after the fire — Pete by main elec

Taxes and Building Codes, Then What? You already know about 3 steps we have taken post wildfire from our previous post.

STOP Everything!!!

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.

Rebuilding?

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!

3 year Tax Break for Disaster Victims

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:

Tax Relief Options for Those Impacted by Fires

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)

State Law

Submit a Petition For Property Tax Refund

PetForPropTxRefnd

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.

Tom Konis

Spokane County WA, Tax Assessment Office Assessor’s Website Homepage: 509-477-3698

Michael Baumgartner

Spokane County Treasurer

Mary Kuney

Chair of the Board of County Commissioners and representing District 4.

Freedom Index 118-1

A Freedom Index?

Don’t be an ostrich with your head stuck in the sand. Stay abreast of what our elected officials are up to.

The John Birch Society

Thanks to JBS, we are able to understand what the heck they are doing there in Washington D.C. No need to hide from the truth anymore. Go ahead and pull your head out of the sand. Read all about The Freedom Index online here.

“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.

Weekly Activist

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!

DUI test

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?

Steps to become Active

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.

The Important Part

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!