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.
