AN
ACT Relating to the budget authority of the public works board, expenditures
from the public works assistance account, and clarifying capital facility
planning requirements; amending RCW 43.155.020, 43.155.065, 43.155.068, and
43.155.070; and reenacting and amending RCW 43.155.050.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
43.155.020 and 1996 c 168 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless
the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section shall
apply throughout this chapter.
(1)
"Board" means the public works board created in RCW 43.155.030.
(2)
"Capital facility plan" means a capital facility plan required by
the growth management act under chapter 36.70A RCW or, for local governments
not fully planning under the growth management act, a plan required by the
public works board.
(3)
"Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic
development.
(((3)))
(4) "Financing guarantees" means the pledge of money in the
public works assistance account, or money to be received by the public works
assistance account, to the repayment of all or a portion of the principal of or
interest on obligations issued by local governments to finance public works
projects.
(((4)))
(5) "Local governments" means cities, towns, counties, special
purpose districts, and any other municipal corporations or quasi-municipal corporations
in the state excluding school districts and port districts.
(((5)))
(6) "Public works project" means a project of a local
government for the planning, acquisition, construction, repair, reconstruction,
replacement, rehabilitation, or improvement of streets and roads, bridges,
water systems, or storm and sanitary sewage systems and solid waste facilities,
including recycling facilities. A planning project may include the
compilation of biological, hydrological, or other data on a county, drainage
basin, or region necessary to develop a base of information for a capital
facility plan.
(((6)))
(7) "Solid waste or recycling project" means remedial actions
necessary to bring abandoned or closed landfills into compliance with
regulatory requirements and the repair, restoration, and replacement of
existing solid waste transfer, recycling facilities, and landfill projects
limited to the opening of landfill cells that are in existing and permitted landfills.
(((7)))
(8) "Technical assistance" means training and other services
provided to local governments to: (a) Help such local governments plan, apply,
and qualify for loans and financing guarantees from the board, and (b) help
local governments improve their ability to plan for, finance, acquire,
construct, repair, replace, rehabilitate, and maintain public facilities.
Sec.
2. RCW
43.155.050 and 1995 2nd sp.s. c 18 s 918 and 1995 c 376 s 11 are each reenacted
and amended to read as follows:
The
public works assistance account is hereby established in the state treasury.
Money may be placed in the public works assistance account from the proceeds of
bonds when authorized by the legislature or from any other lawful source.
Money in the public works assistance account shall be used to make loans and to
give financial guarantees to local governments for public works projects.
Moneys in the account may also be appropriated to provide for state match
requirements under federal law for projects and activities conducted and
financed by the board under the drinking water assistance account. ((During
the 1995-97 fiscal biennium, moneys in the public works assistance account may
be appropriated for transfer to the flood control assistance account to be used
for flood control assistance, including grants under chapter 86.26 RCW. To the
extent that moneys in the public works assistance account are not appropriated
during the 1995-97 fiscal biennium for public works or flood control
assistance, the legislature may direct their transfer to the state general
fund. In awarding grants under chapter 86.26 RCW, the department of ecology
shall give strong preference to local governments that have: (1) Implemented,
or are in the process of implementing, an ordinance that establishes a flood
plain policy that is substantially more stringent than minimum federal
requirements; (2) completed a comprehensive flood control plan meeting the
requirements of RCW 86.12.200; or (3) constructed, or are in the process of
constructing, a system of overtopping dikes or levees that allow public access.))
Not more than fifteen percent of the biennial capital budget appropriation
to the public works board from this account may be expended or obligated for preconstruction
loans, emergency loans, or loans for capital facility planning under this
chapter; of this amount, not more than ten percent of the biennial capital
budget appropriation may be expended for emergency loans and not more than one
percent of the biennial capital budget appropriation may be expended for
capital facility planning loans.
Sec.
3. RCW
43.155.065 and 1990 c 133 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
The
board may make low-interest or interest-free loans to local governments for
emergency public works projects. Emergency public works projects shall include
the construction, repair, reconstruction, replacement, rehabilitation, or
improvement of a public water system that is in violation of health and safety
standards and is being operated by a local government on a temporary basis.
The loans may be used to help fund all or part of an emergency public works
project less any reimbursement from any of the following sources: (1) Federal
disaster or emergency funds, including funds from the federal emergency
management agency; (2) state disaster or emergency funds; (3) insurance
settlements; or (4) litigation. ((Emergency loans may be made only from
those funds specifically appropriated from the public works assistance account
for such purpose by the legislature. The amount appropriated from the public
works assistance account for emergency loan purposes shall not exceed five
percent of the total amount appropriated from this account in any biennium.))
Sec.
4. RCW
43.155.068 and 1995 c 363 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The board may make low-interest or interest-free loans to local governments for
preconstruction activities on public works projects before the legislature
approves the construction phase of the project. Preconstruction activities
include design, engineering, bid-document preparation, environmental studies,
right of way acquisition, and other preliminary phases of public works projects
as determined by the board. The purpose of the loans authorized in this
section is to accelerate the completion of public works projects by allowing
preconstruction activities to be performed before the approval of the
construction phase of the project by the legislature.
(2)
Projects receiving loans for preconstruction activities under this section must
be evaluated using the priority process and factors in RCW 43.155.070(2). The
receipt of a loan for preconstruction activities does not ensure the receipt of
a construction loan for the project under this chapter. Construction loans for
projects receiving a loan for preconstruction activities under this section are
subject to legislative approval under RCW 43.155.070 (4) and (5). The board
shall adopt a single application process for local governments seeking both a
loan for preconstruction activities under this section and a construction loan
for the project.
(((3)
Preconstruction activity loans under this section may be made only from those
funds specifically appropriated from the public works assistance account for
such a purpose by the legislature.))
Sec.
5. RCW
43.155.070 and 1999 c 164 s 602 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
To qualify for loans or pledges under this chapter the board must determine
that a local government meets all of the following conditions:
(a)
The city or county must be imposing a tax under chapter 82.46 RCW at a rate of
at least one-quarter of one percent;
(b)
The local government must have developed a ((long-term)) capital
facility plan ((for financing public works needs)); and
(c)
The local government must be using all local revenue sources which are
reasonably available for funding public works, taking into consideration local
employment and economic factors.
(2)
Except where necessary to address a public health need or substantial
environmental degradation, a county, city, or town planning under RCW
36.70A.040 must have adopted a comprehensive plan, including a capital
facilities plan element, and development regulations as required by RCW
36.70A.040. This subsection does not require any county, city, or town
planning under RCW 36.70A.040 to adopt a comprehensive plan or development
regulations before requesting or receiving a loan or loan guarantee under this
chapter if such request is made before the expiration of the time periods
specified in RCW 36.70A.040. A county, city, or town planning under RCW
36.70A.040 which has not adopted a comprehensive plan and development
regulations within the time periods specified in RCW 36.70A.040 is not
prohibited from receiving a loan or loan guarantee under this chapter if the
comprehensive plan and development regulations are adopted as required by RCW
36.70A.040 before submitting a request for a loan or loan guarantee.
(3)
In considering awarding loans for public facilities to special districts
requesting funding for a proposed facility located in a county, city, or town
planning under RCW 36.70A.040, the board shall consider whether the county,
city, or town planning under RCW 36.70A.040 in whose planning jurisdiction the
proposed facility is located has adopted a comprehensive plan and development
regulations as required by RCW 36.70A.040.
(4)
The board shall develop a priority process for public works projects as
provided in this section. The intent of the priority process is to maximize
the value of public works projects accomplished with assistance under this
chapter. The board shall attempt to assure a geographical balance in assigning
priorities to projects. The board shall consider at least the following
factors in assigning a priority to a project:
(a)
Whether the local government receiving assistance has experienced severe fiscal
distress resulting from natural disaster or emergency public works needs;
(b)
Whether the project is critical in nature and would affect the health and
safety of a great number of citizens;
(c)
The cost of the project compared to the size of the local government and amount
of loan money available;
(d)
The number of communities served by or funding the project;
(e)
Whether the project is located in an area of high unemployment, compared to the
average state unemployment;
(f)
Whether the project is the acquisition, expansion, improvement, or renovation
by a local government of a public water system that is in violation of health
and safety standards, including the cost of extending existing service to such
a system;
(g)
The relative benefit of the project to the community, considering the present
level of economic activity in the community and the existing local capacity to
increase local economic activity in communities that have low economic growth;
and
(h)
Other criteria that the board considers advisable.
(5)
Existing debt or financial obligations of local governments shall not be
refinanced under this chapter. Each local government applicant shall provide
documentation of attempts to secure additional local or other sources of
funding for each public works project for which financial assistance is sought
under this chapter.
(6)
Before November 1 of each year, the board shall develop and submit to the
appropriate fiscal committees of the senate and house of representatives a
description of the loans made under RCW 43.155.065, 43.155.068, and subsection
(9) of this section during the preceding fiscal year and a prioritized list of
projects which are recommended for funding by the legislature, including one
copy to the staff of each of the committees. The list shall include, but not
be limited to, a description of each project and recommended financing, the
terms and conditions of the loan or financial guarantee, the local government
jurisdiction and unemployment rate, demonstration of the jurisdiction's
critical need for the project and documentation of local funds being used to
finance the public works project. The list shall also include measures of
fiscal capacity for each jurisdiction recommended for financial assistance,
compared to authorized limits and state averages, including local government
sales taxes; real estate excise taxes; property taxes; and charges for or taxes
on sewerage, water, garbage, and other utilities.
(7)
The board shall not sign contracts or otherwise financially obligate funds from
the public works assistance account before the legislature has appropriated
funds for a specific list of public works projects. The legislature may remove
projects from the list recommended by the board. The legislature shall not
change the order of the priorities recommended for funding by the board.
(8)
Subsection (7) of this section does not apply to loans made under RCW
43.155.065, 43.155.068, and subsection (9) of this section.
(9)(((a)))
Loans made for the purpose of capital facilities plans shall be exempted from
subsection (7) of this section. ((In no case shall the total amount of
funds utilized for capital facilities plans and emergency loans exceed the
limitation in RCW 43.155.065.
(b)
For the purposes of this section "capital facilities plans" means
those plans required by the growth management act, chapter 36.70A RCW, and
plans required by the public works board for local governments not subject to
the growth management act.))
(10)
To qualify for loans or pledges for solid waste or recycling facilities under
this chapter, a city or county must demonstrate that the solid waste or
recycling facility is consistent with and necessary to implement the
comprehensive solid waste management plan adopted by the city or county under
chapter 70.95 RCW.
