AN ACT Relating to
funds for operating and maintenance of low‑income housing projects and
for innovative housing demonstration projects; amending RCW 36.18.010,
18.85.540, and 43.185.050; adding a new section to chapter 36.22 RCW; adding a
new section to chapter 43.330 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. The legislature
recognizes housing affordability has become a significant problem for a large portion
of society in many parts of Washington state in recent years. The state has
traditionally focused its resources on housing for low-income populations.
Additional funding resources are needed for building operation and maintenance
activities for housing projects affordable to extremely low-income people, for
example farmworkers or people with developmental disabilities. Affordable
rents for extremely low-income people are not sufficient to cover the cost of
building operations and maintenance. In addition resources are needed at the
local level to assist in development and preservation of affordable low-income
housing to address critical local housing needs.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. A new section is added
to chapter 36.22 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided
in subsection (2) of this section, a surcharge of ten dollars per instrument
shall be charged by the county auditor for each document recorded, which will
be in addition to any other charge authorized by law. The auditor may retain
up to five percent of these funds collected to administer the collection of
these funds. Of the remaining funds, forty percent of the revenue generated
through this surcharge will be transmitted monthly to the state treasurer who
will deposit the funds into the Washington housing trust account. The office
of community development of the department of community, trade, and economic
development will develop guidelines for the use of these funds to support
building operation and maintenance costs of housing projects or units within
housing projects that are affordable to extremely low-income persons with
incomes at or below thirty percent of the area median income, and that require
a supplement to rent income to cover ongoing operating expenses. Sixty percent
of the revenue generated by this surcharge will be retained by the county and
be deposited into a fund that must be used by the county and its cities and
towns for housing projects or units within housing projects that are affordable
to very low-income persons with incomes at or below fifty percent of the area
median income. The portion of the surcharge retained by a county shall be
allocated to very low-income housing projects or units within such housing
projects in the county and the cities within a county according to an
interlocal agreement between the county and the cities within the county,
consistent with countywide and local housing needs and policies. The funds
generated with this surcharge shall not be used for construction of new housing
if at any time the vacancy rate for available low-income housing within the
county rises above ten percent. The vacancy rate for each county shall be
developed using the state low-income vacancy rate standard developed under
subsection (3) of this section. Permissible uses of these local funds are
limited to:
(a) Acquisition,
construction, or rehabilitation of housing projects or units within housing
projects that are affordable to very low-income persons with incomes at or
below fifty percent of the area median income;
(b) Supporting building
operation and maintenance costs of housing projects or units within housing
projects built with housing trust funds, that are affordable to very low-income
persons with incomes at or below fifty percent of the area median income, and
that require a supplement to rent income to cover ongoing operating expenses;
(c) Rental assistance
vouchers for housing projects or units within housing projects that are
affordable to very low-income persons with incomes at or below fifty percent of
the area median income, to be administered by a local public housing authority
or other local organization that has an existing rental assistance voucher
program, consistent with the United States department of housing and urban
development's section 8 rental assistance voucher program standards; and
(d) Operating costs for
emergency shelters and licensed overnight youth shelters.
(2) The surcharge
imposed in this section does not apply to assignments or substitutions of
previously recorded deeds of trust.
(3) The real estate
research center at Washington State University shall develop a vacancy rate
standard for low-income housing in the state as described in RCW
18.85.540(1)(i).
Sec. 3. RCW 36.18.010 and 1999 c
233 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
County auditors or
recording officers shall collect the following fees for their official
services:
For recording
instruments, for the first page eight and one-half by fourteen inches or less,
five dollars; for each additional page eight and one-half by fourteen inches or
less, one dollar. The fee for recording multiple transactions contained in one
instrument will be calculated for each transaction requiring separate indexing
as required under RCW 65.04.050 as follows: The fee for each title or
transaction is the same fee as the first page of any additional recorded
document; the fee for additional pages is the same fee as for any additional
pages for any recorded document; the fee for the additional pages may be
collected only once and may not be collected for each title or transaction;
For preparing and
certifying copies, for the first page eight and one-half by fourteen inches or
less, three dollars; for each additional page eight and one-half by fourteen
inches or less, one dollar;
For preparing
noncertified copies, for each page eight and one-half by fourteen inches or
less, one dollar;
For administering an
oath or taking an affidavit, with or without seal, two dollars;
For issuing a marriage
license, eight dollars, (this fee includes taking necessary affidavits, filing
returns, indexing, and transmittal of a record of the marriage to the state
registrar of vital statistics) plus an additional five-dollar fee for use and
support of the prevention of child abuse and neglect activities to be
transmitted monthly to the state treasurer and deposited in the state general
fund plus an additional ten-dollar fee to be transmitted monthly to the state
treasurer and deposited in the state general fund. The legislature intends to
appropriate an amount at least equal to the revenue generated by this fee for
the purposes of the displaced homemaker act, chapter 28B.04 RCW;
For searching records
per hour, eight dollars;
For recording plats,
fifty cents for each lot except cemetery plats for which the charge shall be
twenty-five cents per lot; also one dollar for each acknowledgment, dedication,
and description: PROVIDED, That there shall be a minimum fee of twenty-five
dollars per plat;
For recording of
miscellaneous records not listed above, for the first page eight and one-half
by fourteen inches or less, five dollars; for each additional page eight and
one-half by fourteen inches or less, one dollar;
For modernization and
improvement of the recording and indexing system, a surcharge as provided in
RCW 36.22.170.
For recording an
emergency nonstandard document as provided in RCW 65.04.047, fifty dollars, in
addition to all other applicable recording fees.
For recording
instruments, a surcharge as provided in section 2 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
4. A new section is added
to chapter 43.330 RCW to read as follows:
The office of community
development of the department of community, trade, and economic development is
directed to conduct a statewide housing market analysis by region. The purpose
of the analysis is to identify areas of greatest need for the appropriate
investment of state affordable housing funds, using vacancy data and other
appropriate measures of need for low-income housing. The analysis shall
include the number and types of projects that counties have developed using the
funds collected under this act. The analysis shall be completed by September
2003, and updated every two years thereafter.
Sec. 5. RCW 18.85.540 and 1999 c
192 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The purpose of a
real estate research center in Washington state is to provide credible
research, value-added information, education services, and project-oriented
research to real estate licensees, real estate consumers, real estate service
providers, institutional customers, public agencies, and communities in
Washington state and the Pacific Northwest region. The center may:
(a) Conduct studies and
research on affordable housing and strategies to meet the affordable housing
needs of the state;
(b) Conduct studies in
all areas directly or indirectly related to real estate and urban or rural
economics and economically isolated communities;
(c) Disseminate
findings and results of real estate research conducted at or by the center or
elsewhere, using a variety of dissemination media;
(d) Supply research
results and educational expertise to the Washington state real estate
commission to support its regulatory functions, as requested;
(e) Prepare information
of interest to real estate consumers and make the information available to the
general public, universities, or colleges, and appropriate state agencies;
(f) Encourage economic
growth and development within the state of Washington;
(g) Support the
professional development and continuing education of real estate licensees in
Washington; ((and))
(h) Study and recommend
changes in state statutes relating to real estate; and
(i) Develop a
vacancy rate standard for low-income housing in the state.
(2) The director shall
establish a memorandum of understanding with an institution of higher learning
that establishes a real estate research center for the purposes under
subsection (1) of this section.
(3) This section
expires September 30, 2005.
Sec. 6. RCW 43.185.050 and 1994
c 160 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The department
shall use moneys from the housing trust fund and other legislative
appropriations to finance in whole or in part any loans or grant projects that
will provide housing for persons and families with special housing needs and
with incomes at or below fifty percent of the median family income for the
county or standard metropolitan statistical area where the project is located.
At least thirty percent of these moneys used in any given funding cycle shall
be for the benefit of projects located in rural areas of the state as defined
by the department. If the department determines that it has not received an
adequate number of suitable applications for rural projects during any given
funding cycle, the department may allocate unused moneys for projects in
nonrural areas of the state.
(2) Activities eligible
for assistance from the housing trust fund and other legislative appropriations
include, but are not limited to:
(a) New construction,
rehabilitation, or acquisition of low and very low-income housing units;
(b) Rent subsidies;
(c) Matching funds for
social services directly related to providing housing for special-need tenants
in assisted projects;
(d) Technical
assistance, design and finance services and consultation, and administrative
costs for eligible nonprofit community or neighborhood-based organizations;
(e) Administrative
costs for housing assistance groups or organizations when such grant or loan will
substantially increase the recipient's access to housing funds other than those
available under this chapter;
(f) Shelters and
related services for the homeless, including emergency shelters and
overnight youth shelters;
(g) Mortgage subsidies,
including temporary rental and mortgage payment subsidies to prevent
homelessness;
(h) Mortgage insurance
guarantee or payments for eligible projects;
(i) Down payment or
closing cost assistance for eligible first-time home buyers;
(j) Acquisition of
housing units for the purpose of preservation as low-income or very low-income
housing; and
(k) Projects making
housing more accessible to families with members who have disabilities.
(3) Legislative
appropriations from capital bond proceeds may be used only for the costs of
projects authorized under subsection (2)(a), (i), and (j) of this section, and
not for the administrative costs of the department.
(4) Moneys from
repayment of loans from appropriations from capital bond proceeds may be used
for all activities necessary for the proper functioning of the housing
assistance program except for activities authorized under subsection (2)(b) and
(c) of this section.
(5)
Administrative costs of the department shall not exceed four percent of the
annual funds available for the housing assistance program.
