(1) The county assessor shall, for ten consecutive assessment years following the calendar year in which application is made, place a special valuation on property classified as eligible historic property.

(2) The entitlement of property to the special valuation provisions of this section shall be determined as of January 1. If property becomes disqualified for the special valuation for any reason, the property shall receive the special valuation for that part of any year during which it remained qualified or the owner was acting in the good faith belief that the property was qualified.

(3) At the conclusion of special valuation, the cost shall be considered as new construction.

(4)(a) A property is eligible for two seven-year extensions of the special valuation if:

(i) The property is located in a county that is listed as a distressed area as reported by the state employment security department and the city is under twenty thousand in population; and

(ii) The property continues to meet the criteria provided in RCW 84.26.030.

(b) Extensions must be applied for by the owner, upon forms prescribed by the department of revenue and supplied by the county assessor, at least ninety days prior to the expiration of the special valuation.

(c) All extensions must be reviewed by the local review board and may be approved or denied at the local review board's discretion.

(d) No extension may be provided under this subsection on or after January 1, 2057.

Tax preference performance statement—2020 c 91 §§ 1 and 2: "(1) This section is the tax preference performance statement for the tax preference contained in sections 1 and 2, chapter 91, Laws of 2020. This performance statement is only intended to be used for subsequent evaluation of the tax preference. It is not intended to create a private right of action by any party or to be used to determine eligibility for preferential tax treatment.

(2) The legislature categorizes this tax preference as one intended to provide tax relief for certain businesses or individuals as provided in RCW 82.32.808(2)(e).

(3) It is the legislature's specific public policy objective to promote the revitalization of historic properties.

(4) If the review finds that the number of taxpayers claiming this preference increases, then the legislature intends to extend the expiration date of this tax preference.

(5) In order to obtain the data necessary to perform the review in subsection (4) of this section, the joint legislative audit and review committee may refer to any data collected by the state." [ 2020 c 91 § 3.]