Reporter Scott Gutierrez passed along yet another quirk to his story earlier this week about the Renton developer who unearthed human remains and remnants of a casket that likely were buried more than 65 years ago on the property.

Gutierrez reports that if the landowner opted to leave the remains there, he could file for designation as a “historic” grave site and gain a tax exemption for that exact spot where the remains are buried, according to state officials.

“The bottom line is it may be possible to apply for a cemetery property tax exemption for a "historic" grave site, if all conditions are met,” said Mike Gowrylow, Department of Revenue spokesman.

“Nobody in the office today can recall ever getting an application to exempt a single grave site from property taxes, and we would have to go through a careful review on any such application before we could make a decision.”

The applicant also likely would have to designate the property as a cemetery site in the deed, Gowrylow said.

Police excavated the property at 2211 Edmonds Ave. N.E after a jawbone was discovered. They found remains, along with metal poles and brackets that likely were part of a casket, and ruled out the likelihood that a crime occurred.

Authorities estimate the casket hardware to have been crafted between 1910 and 1940. Until 1943, it was legal to bury your dead on your own property.

Allyson Brooks, director of the state Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation said she increasingly hears reports of unearthed graves, unmarked cemeteries or tribal burial sites as urban development transforms what were once rural communities. Early settlers often buried family members on their farms without leaving records of the graves’ locations. They get unearthed as new homes get built or people add driveways or swimming pools, she said.

“When I first came to this state 10 years ago, I’d hear of one or two a year. Now we get a few a month,” Brooks said. “There are a lot more abandoned graves or historic cemeteries than people realize.”