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HOUSE BILL 1725
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Passed Legislature - 1995 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th Legislature 1995
Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/06/95.
Referred to Committee on Government Operations.
Regulating
housing authorities.
AN ACT Relating to
housing authorities; and amending RCW 35.82.040 and 35.82.130.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 35.82.040 and 1965 c
7 s 35.82.040 are each amended to read as follows:
When the governing body
of a city adopts a resolution ((as aforesaid)) declaring that there
is a need for a housing authority, it shall promptly notify the mayor of
such adoption. Upon receiving such notice, the mayor shall appoint five
persons as commissioners of the authority created for ((said)) the
city. When the governing body of a county adopts a resolution ((as
aforesaid, said body)) declaring that there is a need for a housing
authority, it shall appoint five persons as commissioners of the authority
created for ((said)) the county. The commissioners who are first
appointed shall be designated to serve for terms of one, two, three, four and
five years, respectively, from the date of their appointment, but thereafter
commissioners shall be appointed ((as aforesaid)) for a term of office
of five years except that all vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired
term. No commissioner of an authority may be an officer or employee of the
city or county for which the authority is created, unless the commissioner
is an employee of a separately elected county official other than the county
governing body in a county with a population of less than one hundred
seventy-five thousand as of the 1990 federal census, and the total government
employment in that county exceeds forty percent of total employment. A
commissioner shall hold office until ((his)) a successor has been
appointed and has qualified, unless sooner removed according to this chapter.
A certificate of the appointment or reappointment of any commissioner shall be
filed with the clerk and such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the
due and proper appointment of such commissioner. A commissioner shall receive no
compensation for his or her services for the authority, in any capacity,
but he or she shall be entitled to the necessary expenses, including
traveling expenses, incurred in the discharge of his or her duties.
The powers of each
authority shall be vested in the commissioners thereof in office from time to
time. Three commissioners shall constitute a quorum of the authority for the
purpose of conducting its business and exercising its powers and for all other
purposes. Action may be taken by the authority upon a vote of a majority of
the commissioners present, unless in any case the bylaws of the authority shall
require a larger number. The mayor (or in the case of an authority for a
county, the governing body of the county) shall designate which of the commissioners
appointed shall be the first ((chairman)) chair of the commission
and he or she shall serve in the capacity of ((chairman)) chair
until the expiration of his or her term of office as commissioner. When
the office of the ((chairman)) chair of the authority ((thereafter))
becomes vacant, the authority shall select a ((chairman)) chair
from among its commissioners. An authority shall select from among its
commissioners a vice ((chairman)) chair, and it may employ a
secretary (who shall be executive director), technical experts and such other
officers, agents and employees, permanent and temporary, as it may require, and
shall determine their qualifications, duties and compensation. For such legal
services as it may require, an authority may call upon the chief law officer of
the city or the county or may employ its own counsel and legal staff. An
authority may delegate to one or more of its agents or employees such powers or
duties as it may deem proper.
Sec. 2. RCW 35.82.130 and 1991 c
167 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
An authority shall have
power to issue bonds from time to time in its discretion, for any of its
corporate purposes. An authority shall also have power to issue refunding
bonds for the purpose of paying or retiring bonds previously issued by it. An
authority may issue such types of bonds as it may determine, including (without
limiting the generality of the foregoing) bonds on which the principal and
interest are payable: (1) Exclusively from the income and revenues of the
housing project financed with the proceeds of such bonds; (2) exclusively from
the income and revenues of certain designated housing projects whether or not
they are financed in whole or in part with the proceeds of such bonds; or (3)
from all or part of its revenues or assets generally. Any such bonds may be
additionally secured by a pledge of any grant or contributions from the federal
government or other source, or a pledge of any income or revenues of the
authority, or a mortgage of any housing project, projects or other property of
the authority. Any pledge made by the authority shall be valid and binding
from the time when the pledge is made ((and recorded)); the revenues,
moneys, or property so pledged and thereafter received by the authority shall
immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery
thereof or further act, and the lien of any such pledge shall be valid and
binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or
otherwise against the authority, irrespective or whether the parties have
notice thereof. ((The resolution and any other instrument by which a pledge
is created shall be filed or recorded.))
Neither the
commissioners of an authority nor any person executing the bonds shall be
liable personally on the bonds by reason of the issuance thereof. The bonds
and other obligations of an authority (and such bonds and obligations shall so
state on their face) shall not be a debt of the city, the county, the state or
any political subdivision thereof and neither the city or the county, nor the
state or any political subdivision thereof shall be liable thereon, nor in any
event shall such bonds or obligations be payable out of any funds or properties
other than those of ((said)) the authority. The bonds shall not
constitute an indebtedness within the meaning of any constitutional or
statutory debt limitation or restriction. Bonds of an authority are declared
to be issued for an essential public and governmental purpose and to be public
instrumentalities and, together with interest thereon and income therefrom,
shall be exempt from taxes. Nothing in this section shall prevent an authority
from issuing bonds the interest on which is included in gross income of the
owners thereof for income tax purposes.
Passed
the House March 8, 1995.
Passed
the Senate April 22, 1995.
Approved by the Governor May 9, 1995.
Filed in Office of
Secretary of State May 9, 1995.
