S-4857               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 5365

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Economic Development & Labor (originally sponsored by Senators Bender, Warnke, Vognild, Murray, Gaspard and von Reichbauer)

Read first time 2/2/90.

AN ACT Relating to property tax deferrals for mobile home parks; and adding new sections to chapter 84.38 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 84.38 RCW to read as follows:

          An owner of a mobile home park as defined in RCW 59.20.030 may defer fifty percent of the real property tax obligations attributable to the park if the following conditions are met for the entire year in which the deferral is sought:

          (1) Fifty percent or more of the rental spaces in the park are reserved for households at or below fifty percent of the median income for the county or standard metropolitan statistical area in which the park is located; and

          (2) All tenants are offered sixty-month leases at a rental rate or rates fixed in the lease.  The lease may be terminated by the tenant for reasons of catastrophic illness or transfer of employment.  Offers of sixty-month leases are presumed not to have been made unless such a lease is evidenced by a written lease agreement or a written waiver signed by the tenant.

          (3) Total amounts deferred under the provisions of sections 1 through 3 of this act, including interest computed from the date of the first deferral at the rate provided in RCW 84.56.020, may not exceed eighty percent of the assessed value of the property.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 84.38 RCW to read as follows:

          Mobile home park owners who wish to defer real property taxes as provided by sections 1 through 3 of this act must complete an application to be supplied by the county treasurer.  The application shall state that the applicant knows and understands the limitations and payback provisions and conditions of the real property tax deferral.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 84.38 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) Real property tax obligations deferred under section 1 of this act become payable with interest as provided in RCW 84.38.100:

          (a) Upon the failure of either condition set forth in section 1 of this act; or

          (b) When the real property upon which the deferral has been taken is no longer used as a mobile home park.

          (2) For the purposes of this section real property is no longer used as a mobile home park when:

          (a) Less than ninety-five percent of the spaces available for rent at the time of the first deferral under section 1 of this act are available for rent; or

          (b) The mobile home park is not in substantial compliance with applicable state and local health, safety, and land use codes and RCW 59.20.070 and 59.20.130.