This section modifies existing section 84.36.020. Here is the modified chapter for context.
The following real and personal property shall be exempt from taxation:
All lands, buildings, and personal property required for necessary administration and maintenance, used, or to the extent used, exclusively for public burying grounds or cemeteries without discrimination as to race, color, national origin or ancestry;
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All churches, personal property, and the ground, not exceeding five acres in area, upon which a church of any nonprofit recognized religious denomination is or must be built, together with a parsonage, convent, and buildings and improvements required for the maintenance and safeguarding of such property. The area exempted must in any case include all ground covered by the church, parsonage, convent, and buildings and improvements required for the maintenance and safeguarding of such property and the structures and ground necessary for street access, parking, light, and ventilation, but the area of unoccupied ground exempted in such cases, in connection with church, parsonage, convent, and buildings and improvements required for the maintenance and safeguarding of such property, shall not exceed the equivalent of one hundred twenty by one hundred twenty feet except where additional unoccupied land may be required to conform with state or local codes, zoning, or licensing requirements. The parsonage and convent need not be on land contiguous to the church property. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, to be exempt the property must be wholly used for church purposes.
If the rental income or donations, if applicable, are reasonable and do not exceed the maintenance and operation expenses attributable to the portion of the property loaned or rented, the exemption provided by this subsection (2) is not nullified by:
The loan or rental of property otherwise exempt under this subsection (2) to a nonprofit organization, association, or corporation, or school to conduct an eleemosynary activity or activities related to a farmers market. However, activities related to a farmers market may not occur on the property more than 53 days each assessment year. For the purposes of this section, "farmers market" has the same meaning as "qualifying farmers market" as defined in RCW 66.24.170;
The rental or use of the property by any individual, group, or entity, where such rental or use is not otherwise authorized by this subsection (2), for not more than fifty days in each calendar year, and the property is not used for pecuniary gain or to promote business activities for more than fifteen of the fifty days in each calendar year. The fifty and fifteen-day limitations provided in this subsection (2)(b)(ii) do not include days during which setup and takedown activities take place immediately preceding or following a meeting or other event by an individual, group, or entity using the property as provided in this subsection (2)(b)(ii); or
An inadvertent use of the property in a manner inconsistent with the purpose for which exemption is granted, if the inadvertent use is not part of a pattern of use. A pattern of use is presumed when an inadvertent use is repeated in the same assessment year or in two or more successive assessment years.
This section modifies existing section 84.36.037. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Real or personal property owned by a nonprofit organization, association, or corporation in connection with the operation of a public assembly hall or meeting place is exempt from taxation. The area exempt under this section includes the building or buildings, the land under the buildings, and an additional area necessary for parking, not exceeding a total of one acre. When property for which exemption is sought is essentially unimproved except for restroom facilities and structures and this property has been used primarily for annual community celebration events for at least ten years, the exempt property shall not exceed twenty-nine acres.
To qualify for this exemption the property must be used exclusively for public gatherings and must be available to all organizations or persons desiring to use the property, but the owner may impose conditions and restrictions which are necessary for the safekeeping of the property and promote the purposes of this exemption. Membership shall not be a prerequisite for the use of the property.
The use of the property for pecuniary gain or for business activities, except as provided in this section and RCW 84.36.805, nullifies the exemption otherwise available for the property for the assessment year. If all income received from rental or use of the exempt property is used for capital improvements to the exempt property, maintenance and operation of the exempt property, or exempt purposes, the exemption is not nullified as provided by RCW 84.36.805 or by :
The use of the property to conduct a qualifying farmers market, as defined in RCW 66.24.170, for not more than 53 days each assessment year, if the rental income or donations, if any, are reasonable and do not exceed the maintenance and operation expenses attributable to the portion of the property loaned or rented; or
The use of the property, in a county with a population of less than twenty thousand, to promote the following business activities, if the rental income or donations, if any, are reasonable and do not exceed the maintenance and operation expenses attributable to the portion of the property loaned or rented: Dance lessons, art classes, or music lessons.
The department of revenue must narrowly construe this exemption.
This act applies to taxes levied for collection in 2023 and thereafter.
RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 do not apply to this act.