Resources for communicating about AWC's legislative priority to revise the 1% property tax cap

AWC is prioritizing our efforts to ask the Legislature to revise the arbitrary 1% property tax cap in the 2025 legislative session. Find resources to help you communicate with legislators about this complex issue.

City sign-on letter to legislators: Act now to revise the arbitrary 1% property tax cap

• See which city leaders signed on to AWC’s letter urging the Legislature to take action to revise the arbitrary property tax cap from 1% to an optional increase of up to 3%.

Local published op-eds in support of lifting the cap

• Everett Herald: Cities need modest tax hike to meet growing needs
• News Tribune: Washington’s property tax cap is draining local government. It gets worse every year
• Seattle Times: Mayors to WA lawmakers: Lift the local property tax cap

Fact sheets and resources

We are joined by a large coalition of other local government associations, a variety of labor organizations, and individual cities and counties.

• Read the coalition’s summary outlining their support
• Read AWC’s updated fact sheet on this legislative priority
• Look at this visualization comparing how a property tax revision from 1% to 3% impacts an example property tax bill 

Videos

• Watch our explainer video that dives into why cities need this vital funding option now
• Watch Candice Bock, AWC Government Relations Director, explain this complex tax

Talking points to share with legislators

It’s best to share your city’s local story, bolstered by facts and information that line up with what other local entities are saying. Here are a few talking points you can include in your own messages:

• The current cap doesn’t reflect real life: The 1% cap is arbitrary, in that it isn’t connected to any data, and it does not keep up with population growth and inflation. In the last decade, population in Washington has increased on average 1.5% per year, while inflation averages 3% per year. This has created a structural deficit that only worsens every single year.
• It’s optional: Lifting the property tax cap is not an automatic tax increase. It simply gives the option for an elected city council to make the decision to take it or not, based on local circumstances. Even now, not all jurisdictions take the current 1% increase each year. Providing the option gives the flexibility to local governments to balance their revenues to meet hyperlocal community needs.
• It’s modest: This proposal is a modest increase to meet basic, but critical needs. Going from a 1% revenue cap to 3% does not triple property taxes. In fact, raising a city’s revenue cap means that the increased cost for an average homeowner is generally less than $20 per year on average. This small and sensible increased cap would have a modest, but meaningful impact on local budgets. Some communities are in dire need of critical local funding, and this option could really help them.