Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill this month meant to give Native American tribes the same tax status as state or local governments when purchasing property, but Central Washington lawmakers are wary of it.

HB 1287 says that property owned exclusively by a federally-recognized tribe, including land used for economic development, is not subject to property tax. Instead, the tribe would make a payment in lieu of taxes to the county or a leasehold excise tax.

The bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-Pouslbo), said tribes feel discriminated against.

"Cities and counties in Washington, when they buy land outside their boundaries, they don't have to pay taxes, but a sovereign nation does if they buy outside their reservation," she said.

Appleton, who has the Suquamish and Port Gamble S'Klallam reservations in her district, said she'd been working on the bill for four years. It was rewritten to remove a shifting of the tax burden, she said.

But some legislators and county officials are still concerned about its possible impact on property taxes.

"It's going to allow tribes to buy (land) and then take them off the tax rolls and that harms schools, roads, services," said Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg. "When you take things off the tax rolls other people have to pay more."

Manweller and fellow 13th district Republican Rep. Judy Warnick both voted for the bill last year, but against it when it was reintroduced this session. The measure passed with 61 votes in favor and 37 opposed in the house, and 37 yays and 12 nays from the senate.

Manweller said he voted for the bill last year as a condition that his sunset clause amendment be adopted. The law is now set to expire in 2022, and also requires a six-year study by the joint legislative audit and review committee.

But after speaking with county officials, Manweller said, he decided to vote against the bill this time.

Warnick said she changed her vote after a caucus discussion where concerns were raised about tribes being able to put land in federal trust, where they wouldn't make payments to local governments at all.

"I support what the tribes are doing by trying to help their own folks by putting in commercial entities but when they're doing it with the amount of tax breaks they get....it could be fairly expensive for our local communities and counties," she said.

Sen. Janéa Holmquist Newbry voted against the bill last year, and in favor of it this year. She could not be reached for comment as of press time.

All three 12th district legislators voted against the measure.

Rep. Brad Hawkins (R-East Wenatchee) echoed other legislators in calling the bill complex.

"HB 1287 was a complicated bill that bounced back and forth between the House and Senate, and it changed along the way," he wrote over email. "My vote was an effort to protect property owners from being stuck with a higher tax bill."

Josh Weiss from the Washington State Association of Counties, which testified against the bill, said it was important to remember that property taxes are the major source of revenue for counties.

He called the idea that tribal and local governments should be treated the same "a red herring," because county governments can't profit from commercial development.

Manweller also thought the comparison was unfair, saying "my local park district doesn't have access to hundreds of millions of dollars of gambling revenue."

Appleton said the measure was an alternative to tribes putting land into federal trust where they wouldn't pay counties at all.

"This is sort of that middle road, and I think this is all about parity," she said.

Chelan County Assessor Deanna Walter said it's not clear what kinds of activity would count as economic development, or even what land is owned by tribes currently. Documents have been passed down for many years and tribes may have the only copies, she said.

"It's not like ownership now, where it's easy to track and everything has to recorded," Walter said.

Sen. Linda Evans Parlette (R-Wenatchee) proposed an amendment to the bill which would develop a government database of the land owned by tribes, but it was not adopted.

Walter said she's waiting for the Department of Revenue to clarify what the bill means for property taxpayers.

"As of right now, I'm doing nothing," she said.

"House Bill 1287 left almost more questions than answers," Walter said.