State Rep. Cary Condotta Thursday mentioned details previously not public about a "radical" new tax plan being designed for the state that would eliminate property taxes.

The 12th Legislative District Republican said he and the majority chair of the House of Representatives Finance committee, Rep. Jim McIntire of Seattle, a Democrat, are working with the governor's staff on new possible models for a dramatically different tax system for the state of Washington. All of them would at least lower property tax and introduce an income tax.

Condotta said the model at the top of the pile as of Thursday would completely eliminate property taxes and create "direct funding" for schools, a fact previously undisclosed.

"It is very radical," Condotta said, speaking to Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce members at Pepper Jack's in Grand Coulee.

Condotta, who owns a motorcycle shop in Wenatchee, said the current system in the state is too regressive, placing more burden on middle- and lower-income citizens.

"Even though I'm a conservative," he said, "I have to say, some of the high-end group get away with murder."

He said big companies like Boeing and Microsoft would stand to be hurt the most by any of the changes being considered, but the overall restructuring would benefit the whole state.

The working group's goal, he said, is to come up with a proposal this year that "the public can get excited about."

Condotta clearly does. With a degree in economics, the motorcycle seller speaks of revenue neutrality and income statistics with an enthusiasm one might expect if the subject were a new Kawasaki. And even though politics often wallows in as much mud as a dirt biker, Condotta said he and his main collaborator, a "lefty" economics professor, get along very well.

For the last four months, they've been working together to come up with a new tax system, spurred on by the impact of rising real estate values on homeowners around the state, some of whom can no longer pay taxes on homes they own outright.

Wednesday night in Manson, Condotta said, a grange hall was pact with 300 people to discuss the subject.

"People are literally being taxed out of their homes," he said.

To change that, he and McIntire have searched for other tax models from New Zealand to Estonia, finally submitting four models to Gov. Christine Gregoire's staff, who he said were very good at their jobs.

The plan most favored at the moment would eliminate property taxes and lock them out with an amendment to the state constitution, an issue on which voters would have the final say. It would also introduce a simple income tax that "could be filed on a postcard," Condotta said.

If it passed, Washington would be the only state with no property taxes. Now, some 30 percent of the state government's revenue comes from property taxes. And more than 2,300 taxing districts in the state collect property taxes, from school districts to hospital, fire, parks and even cemetery districts.

Those local taxes could be still be levied, but the state would not collect property tax.