H-1401              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 662

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Jacobsen, Appelwick, O'Brien, Tanner, Ebersole and Wineberry

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

AN ACT Relating to property tax exemptions for low-income housing; and amending RCW 84.36.451 and 35.21.755.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 14, chapter 61, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. as amended by section 10, chapter 196, Laws of 1979 ex. sess. and RCW 84.36.451 are each amended to read as follows:

          The following property shall be exempt from taxation:  Any and all rights to occupy or use any real or personal property owned in fee or held in trust by:

          (1) The United States, the state of Washington, or any political subdivision or municipal corporation of the state of Washington; or

          (2) A public corporation, commission, or authority created under RCW 35.21.730 or 35.21.660 if:

(a) The property is listed on or is within a district listed on any federal or state register of historical sites;or

(b) If the property is primarily devoted to low-income housing with more than fifty percent of the rentable floor area of any such structure occupied by low-income tenants paying rentals not exceeding fifteen percent of the area median income.  For purposes of this subsection, "low income" means an income not exceeding fifty percent of median income, scaled by family size, for the area in which the housing is located, and "median income" is measured by the most recent statistics published by the United States department of labor for counties within a standard metropolitan statistical area and, for other areas, by estimates prepared and filed with the code reviser by the state department of community development for publication in the Washington state register; and

          (3) Including any leasehold interest arising from the property identified in subsections (1) and (2) of this section as defined in RCW 82.29A.020:  PROVIDED, That the exemption under this section shall not apply to any such leasehold interests which are a part of operating properties of public utilities subject to assessment under chapter 84.12 RCW nor be construed to modify the provisions of RCW 84.40.230.

        Sec. 2.  Section 7, chapter 37, Laws of 1974 ex. sess. as last amended by section 1, chapter 116, Laws of 1984 and RCW 35.21.755 are each amended to read as follows:

          A public corporation, commission, or authority created pursuant to RCW 35.21.730 or 35.21.660 shall receive the same immunity or exemption from taxation as that of the city, town, or county creating the same:  PROVIDED, That, except for any property within a special review district established by ordinance prior to January 1, 1976, or listed on or which is within a district listed on any federal or state register of historical sites or for any property that is otherwise granted an exemption pursuant to law, any such public corporation, commission, or authority shall pay to the county treasurer an annual excise tax equal to the amounts which would be paid upon real property and personal property devoted to the purposes of such public corporation, commission, or authority were it in private ownership, and such real property and personal property is acquired and/or operated under RCW 35.21.725 through 35.21.755, and the proceeds of such excise tax shall be allocated by the county treasurer to the various taxing authorities in which such property is situated, in the same manner as though the property were in private ownership:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That the provisions of chapter 82.29A RCW shall not apply to property within a special review district established by ordinance prior to January 1, 1976, or listed on or which is within a district listed on any federal or state register of historical sites and which is controlled by a public corporation, commission, or authority created pursuant to RCW 35.21.730 or 35.21.660, which was in existence prior to January 1, 1976:  AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That property within a special review district established by ordinance prior to January 1, 1976, or property which is listed on any federal or state register of historical sites and controlled  by a public corporation, commission, or authority created pursuant to RCW 35.21.730 or 35.21.660, which was in existence prior to January 1, 1976, shall receive the same immunity or exemption from taxation as if such property had been within a district listed on any such federal or state register of historical sites as of January 1, 1976, and controlled by a public corporation, commission, or authority created pursuant to RCW 35.21.730 or 35.21.660 which was in existence prior to January 1, 1976.