AN ACT Relating to land development charges for public infrastructure facilities; amending RCW 82.02.020; and adding a new chapter to Title 58 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDING. The legislature finds that land use development should proceed only with adequate provision for public facilities to support a high quality of life, including adequate roads, highways, storm and sanitary sewage systems, water supply systems, schools, parks and other recreational facilities, open space, libraries, and police and fire protection. The legislature further finds that rapid land use development has placed severe strain upon local government fiscal resources to provide these public facilities. Therefore, local governments should be granted sufficient authority to impose some or all of the costs of necessary public facilities upon the land development activities that are responsible for these public facility costs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter the following definitions apply:

(1) "City" means any city or town.

(2) "Public facility" means roads, highways, storm and sanitary sewage systems, water supply systems, schools, park and recreation facilities, open space, libraries, and police and fire protection.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. DEVELOPMENT FEE AUTHORITY. (1) A city or county may impose a fee or charge, either directly or indirectly, on the construction or reconstruction of residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, or on any other building or building space or appurtenance thereto, or on the development or subdivision of land. The fee or charge shall comply with the standards and requirements of this chapter.

(2) The fee or charge may be imposed in addition to or in combination with the dedication of land, the provision of public facilities, or both, by the person seeking to construct the buildings or to develop or subdivide land.

(3) A city or county may accept as an alternative to the fee or charge a bond, irrevocable letter of credit, or other acceptable method of ensuring payment of the fees or charges upon demand by the city or county.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. FEE OR CHARGE. Except as provided in section 5 of this act, the total amount of the fee or charge shall bear a reasonable relationship to the additional costs of public facilities attributable to the proposed building construction or land development or subdivision. The fee or charge may include costs for land acquisition and facility construction, and may include the costs for maintenance and operation of public facilities for a period no longer than five years.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. GENERAL FACILITIES PLAN. (1) Any city or county seeking to impose fees or charges as authorized under section 3 of this act shall first adopt a general facilities plan which is consistent with any comprehensive land use plan adopted by the city or county, including the growth and development policies specified in the comprehensive plan. The general facilities plan shall describe the nature and extent of public facilities necessary for land development activities contemplated by the comprehensive land use plan. The general facilities plan shall also establish standards for levels of services required for different levels of development.

(2) The general facilities plan shall also contain policies and standards applicable to the imposition of fees or charges, provision of public facilities, or land dedication. These standards or policies may specify circumstances under which specific public facilities exceeding needs attributable to the construction, development, or subdivision in question may be required where the land has outstanding characteristics for such facilities, provided that: (a) The facility requirements shall be a credit against other public facility charges or fees as provided under section 7 of this act; and (b) the total value of the facility requirements shall not exceed the need attributable to the building construction or land development or subdivision in question.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, these policies shall be consistent with any mitigation policies adopted pursuant to the requirements of the state environmental policy act under RCW 43.21C.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. EXPENDITURE. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, fees or charges collected under the authority of this chapter shall be committed for expenditure within ten years from the date of collection.

(2) In the case of subdivision approval, the fees or charges collected shall be committed for expenditure no later than the date upon which building permits for one-half of the lots within the subdivision have been issued.

(3) Fees or charges not committed as required under this section shall be returned to the record title owner of the land, and, in the case of a subdivision, shall be distributed to the then record owners within the subdivision in the same proportion as the area of each lot bears to the total area within the subdivision.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. CREDITS. Credits against a fee or charge shall be granted for the following:

(1) The value of any public facility acquired or constructed by the landowner and transferred to the city or county or other appropriate entity for operation, where the facility meets the standards and policies of the applicable general facilities plan;

(2) The value of open space or park facilities retained in private ownership where a conservation easement is granted to the city, county, or other appropriate entity that limits the property to open space or park uses in perpetuity and makes provision for public access and use;

(3) The value of land or other public facilities provided in excess of that attributable to the building construction or land development or subdivision pursuant to the standards of section 5 of this act;

(4) The amount of fees or charges imposed by a transportation benefit district pursuant to the authority of chapter 36.73 RCW, shall be a credit against any fees or charges under the authority of this chapter for the purpose of making transportation improvements;

(5) The amount of any assessments, fees, or charges imposed by a special purpose district, local improvement district, or utility local improvement district for the acquisition, construction, maintenance or operation of public facilities serving the purposes for which the fees or charges are imposed under the authority of section 3 of this act.

Sec. 8. Section 82.02.020, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 6, chapter 179, Laws of 1988 and RCW 82.02.020 are each amended to read as follows:

Except only as expressly provided in RCW 67.28.180 and 67.28.190 and the provisions of chapter 82.14 RCW, the state preempts the field of imposing taxes upon retail sales of tangible personal property, the use of tangible personal property, parimutuel wagering authorized pursuant to RCW 67.16.060, conveyances, and cigarettes, and no county, town, or other municipal subdivision shall have the right to impose taxes of that nature. ((No county, city, town, or other municipal corporation shall impose any tax, fee, or charge, either direct or indirect, on the construction or reconstruction of residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, or on any other building or building space or appurtenance thereto, or on the development, subdivision, classification, or reclassification of land. However, this section does not preclude dedications of land or easements pursuant to RCW 58.17.110 within the proposed development or plat which the county, city, town, or other municipal corporation can demonstrate are reasonably necessary as a direct result of the proposed development or plat to which the dedication of land or easement is to apply.

This section does not prohibit voluntary agreements with counties, cities, towns, or other municipal corporations that allow a payment in lieu of a dedication of land or to mitigate a direct impact that has been identified as a consequence of a proposed development, subdivision, or plat. A local government shall not use such voluntary agreements for local off-site transportation improvements within the geographic boundaries of the area or areas covered by an adopted transportation program authorized by chapter 39.92 RCW. Any such voluntary agreement is subject to the following provisions:

~~(1) The payment shall be held in a reserve account and may only be expended to fund a capital improvement agreed upon by the parties to mitigate the identified, direct impact;~~

~~(2) The payment shall be expended in all cases within five years of collection; and~~

(3) Any payment not so expended shall be refunded with interest at the rate applied to judgments to the property owners of record at the time of the refund; however, if the payment is not expended within five years due to delay attributable to the developer, the payment shall be refunded without interest.

No county, city, town, or other municipal corporation shall require any payment as part of such a voluntary agreement which the county, city, town, or other municipal corporation cannot establish is reasonably necessary as a direct result of the proposed development or plat.

Nothing in this section prohibits cities, towns, counties, or other municipal corporations from collecting reasonable fees from an applicant for a permit or other governmental approval to cover the cost to the city, town, county, or other municipal corporation of processing applications, inspecting and reviewing plans, or preparing detailed statements required by chapter 43.21C RCW.

This section does not limit the existing authority of any county, city, town, or other municipal corporation to impose special assessments on property specifically benefitted thereby in the manner prescribed by law.

Nothing in this section prohibits counties, cities, or towns from imposing or permits counties, cities, or towns to impose water, sewer, natural gas, drainage utility, and drainage system charges: PROVIDED, That no such charge shall exceed the proportionate share of such utility or system's capital costs which the county, city, or town can demonstrate are attributable to the property being charged: PROVIDED FURTHER, That these provisions shall not be interpreted to expand or contract any existing authority of counties, cities, or towns to impose such charges.

Nothing in this section prohibits a transportation benefit district from imposing fees or charges authorized in RCW 36.73.120 nor prohibits the legislative authority of a county, city, or town from approving the imposition of such fees within a transportation benefit district.

~~Nothing in this section prohibits counties, cities, or towns from imposing transportation impact fees authorized pursuant to chapter 39.92 RCW.~~

~~This section does not apply to special purpose districts formed and acting pursuant to Titles 54, 56, 57, or 87 RCW, nor is the authority conferred by these titles affected.~~))

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. EXISTING LAWS. The provisions of this chapter do not limit, modify, or affect the authority of a city or county to deny or condition approval of building construction or land development or subdivision under the authority of any other provision of law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. CONSTRUCTION. The rule of strict construction does not apply to this act, and this act shall be liberally construed to permit the accomplishment of its purposes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Section captions, as used in this act, do not constitute any part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 7 and 9 through 11 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 58 RCW.