BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to impact fees; amending RCW 82.02.100, 36.73.120, 39.92.040, 58.17.110, 82.02.060, and 82.02.020; adding a new section to chapter 43.21C RCW; adding a new section to chapter 82.02 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 36 RCW; and recodifying RCW 82.02.020, 82.02.050, 82.02.060, 82.02.070, 82.02.080, 82.02.090, and 82.02.100.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 82.02.100 and 1992 c 219 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

A person who is required to pay a fee ((~~pursuant to RCW 43.21C.060 for system improvements shall not be required to pay an impact fee under RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.090~~)) for system improvements under this chapter shall not be required to pay impact fees for those same system improvements under RCW 36.73.120, RCW 39.92.040, or chapter 43.21C RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.21C RCW to read as follows:

A person who is required to pay an impact fee under this chapter for system improvements, as defined in RCW 82.02.090 (as recodified by this act), shall not be required to pay impact fees for those same system improvements under RCW 36.73.120, RCW 39.92.040, or chapter 36.‑‑ RCW (RCW 82.02.020 and 82.02.050 through 82.02.100 as recodified by this act).

Sec. 3. RCW 36.73.120 and 1988 c 179 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A transportation benefit district may impose a fee or charge on the construction or reconstruction of residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, or on any other building or building space or appurtenance thereto, or on the development, subdivision, classification, or reclassification of land only if done in accordance with chapter 39.92 RCW.

(2) Any fee or charge imposed under this section shall be used exclusively for transportation improvements constructed by a transportation benefit district. The fees or charges so imposed must be reasonably necessary as a result of the impact of development, construction, or classification or reclassification of land on identified transportation needs.

(3) When fees or charges are imposed by a district within which there is more than one city or both incorporated and unincorporated areas, the legislative authority for each city in the district and the county legislative authority for the unincorporated area must approve the imposition of such fees or charges before they take effect.

(4) A person who is required to pay a fee or charge under this section for system improvements, as defined in RCW 82.02.090 (as recodified by this act), shall not be required to pay impact fees for those same system improvements under RCW 39.92.040, chapter 43.21C RCW, or chapter 36.‑‑ RCW (RCW 82.02.020 and 82.02.050 through 82.02.100 as recodified by this act).

Sec. 4. RCW 39.92.040 and 1989 c 296 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

The program shall describe the formula or method for calculating the amount of the transportation impact fees to be imposed on new development within the plan area. The program may require developers to pay a transportation impact fee for off-site transportation improvements not yet constructed and for those jointly-funded improvements constructed since the commencement of the program.

The program shall define the event in the development approval process that triggers a determination of the amount of the transportation impact fees and the event that triggers the obligation to make actual payment of the fees. However, the payment obligation shall not commence before the date the developer has obtained a building permit for the new development or, in the case of residential subdivisions or short plats, at the time of final plat approval, at the developer's option. If the developer of a residential subdivision or short plat elects to pay the fee at the date a building permit has been obtained, the option to pay the transportation impact fee by installments as authorized by this section is deemed to have been waived by the developer. The developer shall be given the option to pay the transportation impact fee in a lump sum, without interest, or by installment with reasonable interest over a period of five years or more as specified by the local government.

The local government shall require security for the obligation to pay the transportation impact fee, in the form of a recorded agreement, deed of trust, letter of credit, or other instrument determined satisfactory by the local government. The developer shall also be given credit against its obligations for the transportation impact fee, for the fair market value of off-site land and/or the cost of constructing off-site transportation improvements dedicated to the local government. If the value of the dedication exceeds the amount of transportation impact fee obligation, the developer is entitled to reimbursement from transportation impact fees attributable to the dedicated improvements and paid by subsequent developers within the plan area.

Payment of the transportation impact fee entitles the developer and its successors and assigns to credit against any other fee, local improvement district assessment, or other monetary imposition made specifically for the designated off-site transportation improvements intended to be covered by the transportation impact fee imposed pursuant to this program. The program shall also define the criteria for establishing periodic fee increases attributable to construction and related cost increases for the improvements designated in the program.

A person who is required to pay a transportation impact fee under this section for system improvements, as defined in RCW 82.02.090 (as recodified by this act), shall not be required to pay impact fees for those same system improvements under RCW 36.73.120, chapter 43.21C RCW, or chapter 36.‑‑ RCW (RCW 82.02.020 and 82.02.050 through 82.02.100 as recodified by this act).

Sec. 5. RCW 58.17.110 and 1995 c 32 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The city, town, or county legislative body shall inquire into the public use and interest proposed to be served by the establishment of the subdivision and dedication. It shall determine: (a) If appropriate provisions are made for, but not limited to, the public health, safety, and general welfare, for open spaces, drainage ways, streets or roads, alleys, other public ways, transit stops, potable water supplies, sanitary wastes, parks and recreation, playgrounds, schools and schoolgrounds, and shall consider all other relevant facts, including sidewalks and other planning features that assure safe walking conditions for students who only walk to and from school; and (b) whether the public interest will be served by the subdivision and dedication.

(2) A proposed subdivision and dedication shall not be approved unless the city, town, or county legislative body makes written findings that: (a) Appropriate provisions are made for the public health, safety, and general welfare and for such open spaces, drainage ways, streets or roads, alleys, other public ways, transit stops, potable water supplies, sanitary wastes, parks and recreation, playgrounds, schools and schoolgrounds and all other relevant facts, including sidewalks and other planning features that assure safe walking conditions for students who only walk to and from school; and (b) the public use and interest will be served by the platting of such subdivision and dedication. If it finds that the proposed subdivision and dedication make such appropriate provisions and that the public use and interest will be served, then the legislative body shall approve the proposed subdivision and dedication. Dedication of land to any public body, provision of public improvements to serve the subdivision, and/or impact fees imposed under RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.090 (as recodified by this act) may be required as a condition of subdivision approval. A person who is required to pay an impact fee under this section for system improvements, as defined in RCW 82.02.090 (as recodified by this act), shall not be required to pay impact fees for those same system improvements under RCW 36.73.120, RCW 39.92.040, or chapter 43.21C RCW. Dedications shall be clearly shown on the final plat. No dedication, provision of public improvements, or impact fees imposed under RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.090 (as recodified by this act) shall be allowed that constitutes an unconstitutional taking of private property. The legislative body shall not as a condition to the approval of any subdivision require a release from damages to be procured from other property owners.

(3) If the preliminary plat includes a dedication of a public park with an area of less than two acres and the donor has designated that the park be named in honor of a deceased individual of good character, the city, town, or county legislative body must adopt the designated name.

Sec. 6. RCW 82.02.060 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 44 are each amended to read as follows:

The local ordinance by which impact fees are imposed:

(1) Shall include a schedule of impact fees which shall be adopted for each type of development activity that is subject to impact fees, specifying the amount of the impact fee to be imposed for each type of system improvement. The schedule shall be based upon a formula or other method of calculating such impact fees. In determining proportionate share, the formula or other method of calculating impact fees shall incorporate, among other things, the following:

(a) The cost of public facilities necessitated by new development;

(b) An adjustment to the cost of the public facilities for past or future payments made or reasonably anticipated to be made by new development to pay for particular system improvements in the form of user fees, debt service payments, taxes, or other payments earmarked for or proratable to the particular system improvement;

(d) The cost of existing public facilities improvements; and

(e) The methods by which public facilities improvements were financed;

(2) May provide an exemption for low-income housing, and other development activities with broad public purposes, from these impact fees, provided that the impact fees for such development activity shall be paid from public funds other than impact fee accounts;

(3) Shall provide a credit for the value of any dedication of land for, improvement to, or new construction of any system improvements provided by the developer, to facilities that are identified in the capital facilities plan and that are required by the county, city, or town as a condition of approving the development activity;

(4) Shall provide that impact fees for single-family residential construction be collected at the initial sale of the residence, the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the residence, or one year after the issuance of the building permit, whichever occurs first;

(5) Shall allow the county, city, or town imposing the impact fees to adjust the standard impact fee at the time the fee is imposed to consider unusual circumstances in specific cases to ensure that impact fees are imposed fairly;

((~~(5)~~)) (6) Shall include a provision for calculating the amount of the fee to be imposed on a particular development that permits consideration of studies and data submitted by the developer to adjust the amount of the fee;

((~~(6)~~)) (7) Shall establish one or more reasonable service areas within which it shall calculate and impose impact fees for various land use categories per unit of development;

((~~(7)~~)) (8) May provide for the imposition of an impact fee for system improvement costs previously incurred by a county, city, or town to the extent that new growth and development will be served by the previously constructed improvements provided such fee shall not be imposed to make up for any system improvement deficiencies.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 82.02 RCW to read as follows:

Except only as expressly provided in RCW 67.28.180 and 67.28.190 and in chapter 82.14 RCW, the state preempts the field of imposing taxes upon retail sales of tangible personal property, the use of tangible personal property, parimutuel wagering authorized pursuant to RCW 67.16.060, conveyances, and cigarettes, and no county, town, or other municipal subdivision has the right to impose taxes of that nature.

Sec. 8. RCW 82.02.020 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 42 are each amended to read as follows:

((Except only as expressly provided in RCW 67.28.180 and 67.28.190 and the provisions of chapter 82.14 RCW, the state preempts the field of imposing taxes upon retail sales of tangible personal property, the use of tangible personal property, parimutuel wagering authorized pursuant to RCW 67.16.060, conveyances, and cigarettes, and no county, town, or other municipal subdivision shall have the right to impose taxes of that nature.)) (1) Except as provided in ((~~RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.090~~)) this chapter, ((no)) a county, city, town, or other municipal corporation shall not impose any tax, fee, or charge, either direct or indirect, on the construction or reconstruction of residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, or on any other building or building space or appurtenance thereto, or on the development, subdivision, classification, or reclassification of land. However, this section does not preclude dedications of land or easements within the proposed development or plat which the county, city, town, or other municipal corporation can demonstrate are reasonably necessary as a direct result of the proposed development or plat to which the dedication of land or easement is to apply.

(2) This section does not prohibit voluntary agreements with ((~~counties, cities, towns~~)) a county, city, town, or other municipal ((~~corporations~~)) corporation that allows a payment in lieu of a dedication of land or to mitigate a direct impact that has been identified as a consequence of a proposed development, subdivision, or plat. A local government shall not use such voluntary agreements for local off-site transportation improvements within the geographic boundaries of the area or areas covered by an adopted transportation program authorized by chapter 39.92 RCW. Any such voluntary agreement is subject to the following provisions:

((~~(1)~~)) (a) The payment shall be held in a reserve account and may only be expended to fund a capital improvement agreed upon by the parties to mitigate the identified, direct impact;

((~~(2)~~)) (b) The payment shall be expended in all cases within five years of collection; and

((~~(3)~~)) (c) Any payment not so expended shall be refunded with interest at the rate applied to judgments to the property owners of record at the time of the refund; however, if the payment is not expended within five years due to delay attributable to the developer, the payment shall be refunded without interest.

((No)) A county, city, town, or other municipal corporation shall not require any payment as part of such a voluntary agreement which the county, city, town, or other municipal corporation cannot establish is reasonably necessary as a direct result of the proposed development or plat.

(3) Nothing in this section prohibits cities, towns, counties, or other municipal corporations from collecting reasonable fees from an applicant for a permit or other governmental approval to cover the cost to the city, town, county, or other municipal corporation of processing applications, inspecting and reviewing plans, or preparing detailed statements required by chapter 43.21C RCW.

(4) This section does not limit the existing authority of any county, city, town, or other municipal corporation to impose special assessments on property specifically benefitted thereby in the manner prescribed by law.

(5) Nothing in this section prohibits counties, cities, or towns from imposing or permits counties, cities, or towns to impose water, sewer, natural gas, drainage utility, and drainage system charges((~~: PROVIDED, That~~)). No such charge ((~~shall~~)) may exceed the proportionate share of such utility or system's capital costs which the county, city, or town can demonstrate are attributable to the property being charged((~~: PROVIDED FURTHER, That~~)). These provisions shall not be interpreted to expand or contract any existing authority of counties, cities, or towns to impose such charges.

(6) Nothing in this section prohibits a transportation benefit district from imposing fees or charges authorized in RCW 36.73.120 nor prohibits the legislative authority of a county, city, or town from approving the imposition of such fees within a transportation benefit district.

(7) Nothing in this section prohibits counties, cities, or towns from imposing transportation impact fees authorized pursuant to chapter 39.92 RCW.

(8) Nothing in this section prohibits counties, cities, or towns from requiring property owners to provide relocation assistance to tenants under RCW 59.18.440 and 59.18.450.

(9) This section does not apply to special purpose districts formed and acting pursuant to Titles 54, 56, 57, or 87 RCW, nor is the authority conferred by these titles affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. RCW 82.02.020, 82.02.050, 82.02.060, 82.02.070, 82.02.080, 82.02.090, and 82.02.100 are each recodified as sections within a new chapter created in Title 36 RCW.