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HOUSE
BILL 1725
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Passed
Legislature - 1995 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th
Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/06/95.
Referred to Committee on Government Operations.
Regulating housing
authorities.
AN ACT
Relating to housing authorities; and amending RCW 35.82.040 and 35.82.130.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
35.82.040 and 1965 c 7 s 35.82.040 are each amended to read as follows:
When
the governing body of a city adopts a resolution ((as aforesaid)) declaring
that there is a need for a housing authority, it shall promptly notify the
mayor of such adoption. Upon receiving such notice, the mayor shall appoint
five persons as commissioners of the authority created for ((said)) the
city. When the governing body of a county adopts a resolution ((as
aforesaid, said body)) declaring that there is a need for a housing
authority, it shall appoint five persons as commissioners of the authority
created for ((said)) the county. The commissioners who are first
appointed shall be designated to serve for terms of one, two, three, four and
five years, respectively, from the date of their appointment, but thereafter
commissioners shall be appointed ((as aforesaid)) for a term of office
of five years except that all vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired
term. No commissioner of an authority may be an officer or employee of the
city or county for which the authority is created, unless the commissioner
is an employee of a separately elected county official other than the county
governing body in a county with a population of less than one hundred
seventy-five thousand as of the 1990 federal census, and the total government
employment in that county exceeds forty percent of total employment. A
commissioner shall hold office until ((his)) a successor has been
appointed and has qualified, unless sooner removed according to this chapter.
A certificate of the appointment or reappointment of any commissioner shall be
filed with the clerk and such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the
due and proper appointment of such commissioner. A commissioner shall receive
no compensation for his or her services for the authority, in any
capacity, but he or she shall be entitled to the necessary expenses,
including traveling expenses, incurred in the discharge of his or her
duties.
The
powers of each authority shall be vested in the commissioners thereof in office
from time to time. Three commissioners shall constitute a quorum of the
authority for the purpose of conducting its business and exercising its powers
and for all other purposes. Action may be taken by the authority upon a vote
of a majority of the commissioners present, unless in any case the bylaws of
the authority shall require a larger number. The mayor (or in the case of an
authority for a county, the governing body of the county) shall designate which
of the commissioners appointed shall be the first ((chairman)) chair
of the commission and he or she shall serve in the capacity of ((chairman))
chair until the expiration of his or her term of office as
commissioner. When the office of the ((chairman)) chair of the
authority ((thereafter)) becomes vacant, the authority shall select a ((chairman))
chair from among its commissioners. An authority shall select from
among its commissioners a vice ((chairman)) chair, and it may
employ a secretary (who shall be executive director), technical experts and
such other officers, agents and employees, permanent and temporary, as it may
require, and shall determine their qualifications, duties and compensation.
For such legal services as it may require, an authority may call upon the chief
law officer of the city or the county or may employ its own counsel and legal
staff. An authority may delegate to one or more of its agents or employees
such powers or duties as it may deem proper.
Sec.
2. RCW
35.82.130 and 1991 c 167 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
An
authority shall have power to issue bonds from time to time in its discretion,
for any of its corporate purposes. An authority shall also have power to issue
refunding bonds for the purpose of paying or retiring bonds previously issued
by it. An authority may issue such types of bonds as it may determine,
including (without limiting the generality of the foregoing) bonds on which the
principal and interest are payable: (1) Exclusively from the income and
revenues of the housing project financed with the proceeds of such bonds; (2)
exclusively from the income and revenues of certain designated housing projects
whether or not they are financed in whole or in part with the proceeds of such
bonds; or (3) from all or part of its revenues or assets generally. Any such
bonds may be additionally secured by a pledge of any grant or contributions
from the federal government or other source, or a pledge of any income or
revenues of the authority, or a mortgage of any housing project, projects or
other property of the authority. Any pledge made by the authority shall be
valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made ((and recorded));
the revenues, moneys, or property so pledged and thereafter received by the
authority shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any
physical delivery thereof or further act, and the lien of any such pledge shall
be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort,
contract, or otherwise against the authority, irrespective or whether the
parties have notice thereof. ((The resolution and any other instrument by
which a pledge is created shall be filed or recorded.))
Neither
the commissioners of an authority nor any person executing the bonds shall be
liable personally on the bonds by reason of the issuance thereof. The bonds
and other obligations of an authority (and such bonds and obligations shall so
state on their face) shall not be a debt of the city, the county, the state or
any political subdivision thereof and neither the city or the county, nor the
state or any political subdivision thereof shall be liable thereon, nor in any
event shall such bonds or obligations be payable out of any funds or properties
other than those of ((said)) the authority. The bonds shall not
constitute an indebtedness within the meaning of any constitutional or
statutory debt limitation or restriction. Bonds of an authority are declared
to be issued for an essential public and governmental purpose and to be public instrumentalities
and, together with interest thereon and income therefrom, shall be exempt from
taxes. Nothing in this section shall prevent an authority from issuing bonds
the interest on which is included in gross income of the owners thereof for income
tax purposes.
