Bill to tax self-storage rentals draws sharp split between cities, land-trust advocates and storage operators

The Senate Ways & Means Committee took public testimony on Senate Bill 5,711, which would tax rentals of individual self-service storage spaces as retail sales (subjecting them to the B&O tax and retail sales tax) and declare legislative intent that revenues support manufactured home communities and affordable housing programs.

Committee staff outlined legal background and fiscal estimates: a 1960 state Supreme Court ruling (Apartment Operators v. Schumacher) previously treated rental income from real property as a property tax subject to uniformity constraints, but staff said a more recent opinion (Quinn v. State) questioned that precedent and could allow a B&O tax on renting storage. Staff estimated general fund revenue increases of about $57.6 million in the upcoming biennium and $147.8 million over four years; a small Department of Revenue implementation cost was also noted.

Why it matters: proponents said the bill…