Z‑0456.2   _____________________________________________

 

SENATE BILL 5224

 

           _____________________________________________

 

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

 

By Senators Prentice, Patterson, Haugen, Horn, Oke, Jacobsen and Kohl‑Welles; by request of Department of Transportation

 

Read first time 01/16/2001.  Referred to Committee on Transportation.

_1      AN ACT Relating to intercity passenger rail service; adding new

_2  sections to chapter 47.79 RCW; and declaring an emergency.

     

_3  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

     

_4      NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that a balanced,

_5  multimodal transportation system is an essential element of the

_6  state's infrastructure, and that effective rail passenger service

_7  is an integral part of a balanced, multimodal transportation

_8  system.  The legislature further finds that the King Street railroad

_9  station is the key hub for both Puget Sound's intermodal passenger

10  transportation system and the state's rail passenger system.  The

11  legislature recognizes that the redevelopment of the King Street

12  railroad station depot, along with necessary and related

13  properties, is critical to its continued functioning as a

14  transportation hub and finds that innovative funding arrangements

15  can materially assist in furthering the redevelopment at reduced

16  public expense.

     

17      NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  The department may acquire, or contract to

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_1  acquire, by purchase, lease, option to lease or purchase,

_2  condemnation, gift, devise, bequest, grant, or exchange of title,

_3  the King Street railroad station depot located in Seattle, or any

_4  interests or rights in it, and other real property and

_5  improvements adjacent to, or used in association with, the King

_6  Street railroad station depot.  The property may include, but not be

_7  limited to, the depot, platforms, parking areas, pedestrian and

_8  vehicle access areas, and maintenance facilities.  These properties,

_9  in the aggregate, will be known as the King Street railroad

10  station.

     

11      NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  During all periods that the department

12  contracts to own or lease some, or all, of the King Street

13  railroad station properties, the department may exercise all the

14  powers and perform all the duties necessary, convenient, or

15  incidental for planning, designing, constructing, improving,

16  repairing, renovating, restoring, operating, and maintaining the

17  King Street railroad station properties.  These powers also include

18  authority to lease or sell, assign, sublease, or otherwise

19  transfer all, or portions of, the King Street railroad station

20  properties for transportation or other public or private purposes

21  and to contract with other public or private entities for the

22  operation, administration, maintenance, or improvement of the King

23  Street railroad station properties after the department takes

24  possession of some, or all, of the properties, as the secretary

25  deems appropriate.  If the department transfers any of its fee

26  ownership interests in the King Street railroad station

27  properties, proceeds from the transaction must be placed in an

28  account that supports multimodal programs, but not into an account

29  restricted by Article II, section 40 of the state Constitution.

     

30      NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4.  To facilitate tax exempt financing for the

31  acquisition and improvement of the King Street railroad station,

32  the department may lease from or contract with public or private

33  entities for the acquisition, lease, operation, maintenance,

34  financing, renovation, restoration, or management of some, or all,

35  of the King Street railroad station properties as a multimodal

36  terminal that supports the state intercity passenger rail

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_1  service.  The leases or contracts are not subject to either chapter

_2  39.94 or 43.82 RCW.  The leases and contracts will expire no later

_3  than fifty years from the time they are executed, and at that time

_4  the department will either receive title or have the right to

_5  receive title to the financed property without additional

_6  obligation to compensate the owner of those properties for the

_7  acquisition of them.  The secretary may take all actions necessary,

_8  convenient, or incidental to the financing.

     

_9      NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.  (1) The department may establish the King

10  Street railroad station facility account as an interest‑bearing

11  local account in the state treasury.  Receipts from the sources

12  listed in subsection (2) of this section must be deposited into

13  the account.  Nothing in this section is a pledge of funds deposited

14  to the account for repayment of tax exempt financing related to

15  the King Street railroad station.  The department may invest funds

16  from the account as permitted by law and may enter into contracts

17  with financial advisors as deemed necessary for that purpose.  Only

18  the secretary or the secretary's designee may authorize

19  expenditures from the account.

20      (2) All funds appropriated to the King Street railroad station

21  facility account by the legislature; all contributions, payments,

22  grants, gifts, and donations to the account from other public or

23  private entities; all receipts from departmental transactions

24  involving capital facility sales, transfers, property leases and

25  rents, incomes, and parking fees associated with the King Street

26  railroad station; as well as all investment income associated with

27  the account must be deposited into the King Street railroad

28  station facility account for purposes specified in subsection (3)

29  of this section.

30      (3) All funds deposited into the King Street railroad station

31  facility account must be expended by the department solely to pay

32  the following expenses:

33      (a) Costs for management of the account;

34      (b) Purchase and acquisition costs for King Street railroad

35  station properties;

36      (c) Payments, including incidental expenses, relating to the

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_1  King Street railroad station depot as required by a lease or

_2  contract under section 4 of this act;

_3      (d) Maintenance and operating costs for the King Street

_4  railroad station properties; and

_5      (e) Capital improvement projects initiated by the department

_6  associated with, and for the benefit of, the King Street railroad

_7  station depot occurring after the date of the department's

_8  beneficial occupancy of the renovated King Street railroad station

_9  depot, and for capital improvement projects initiated at any time

10  by the department for the benefit of King Street railroad station

11  properties other than the depot including, but not limited to,

12  improvements to associated platforms, parking areas, temporary

13  buildings, maintenance facilities, pedestrian access, and other

14  improvements essential to the operation of the station as a

15  multimodal terminal.

16      (4) Nothing in this section is intended to restrict the right

17  of the department from otherwise funding purchase, acquisition,

18  capital improvement, maintenance, rental, operational, and other

19  incidental costs relating to the King Street railroad station from

20  appropriations and resources that are not designated for deposit

21  in the King Street railroad station facility account.

     

22      NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6.  Sections 1 through 5 of this act are each

23  added to chapter 47.79 RCW.

     

24      NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7.  Due to the irrevocable expiration of

25  federal and Amtrak funds critical to the redevelopment of the King

26  Street railroad station on or before June 30, 2001, sections 1

27  through 6 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation

28  of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state

29  government and its existing public institutions, and take effect

30  immediately.

 

‑‑‑ END ‑‑‑

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