BILL REQ. #:  S-2893.1 

Read first time 04/20/11.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to low-income and homeless housing assistance surcharges; amending RCW 36.22.179; adding a new section to chapter 43.185C RCW; and providing an expiration date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 36.22.179 and 2009 c 462 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In addition to the surcharge authorized in RCW 36.22.178, and except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an additional surcharge of ten dollars shall be charged by the county auditor for each document recorded, which will be in addition to any other charge allowed by law. ((During the 2009-11 and 2011-13 biennia)) From July 1, 2009, through July 31, 2011, and from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2017, the surcharge shall be thirty dollars. From August 1, 2011, through June 30, 2015, the surcharge shall be forty dollars. The funds collected pursuant to this section are to be distributed and used as follows:
     (a) The auditor shall retain two percent for collection of the fee, and of the remainder shall remit sixty percent to the county to be deposited into a fund that must be used by the county and its cities and towns to accomplish the purposes of chapter 484, Laws of 2005, six percent of which may be used by the county for administrative costs related to its homeless housing plan, and the remainder for programs which directly accomplish the goals of the county's local homeless housing plan, except that for each city in the county which elects as authorized in RCW 43.185C.080 to operate its own local homeless housing program, a percentage of the surcharge assessed under this section equal to the percentage of the city's local portion of the real estate excise tax collected by the county shall be transmitted at least quarterly to the city treasurer, without any deduction for county administrative costs, for use by the city for program costs which directly contribute to the goals of the city's local homeless housing plan; of the funds received by the city, it may use six percent for administrative costs for its homeless housing program.
     (b) The auditor shall remit the remaining funds to the state treasurer for deposit in the home security fund account. The department may use twelve and one-half percent of this amount for administration of the program established in RCW 43.185C.020, including the costs of creating the statewide homeless housing strategic plan, measuring performance, providing technical assistance to local governments, and managing the homeless housing grant program. The remaining eighty-seven and one-half percent is to be used by the department to:
     (i) Provide housing and shelter for homeless people including, but not limited to: Grants to operate, repair, and staff shelters; grants to operate transitional housing; partial payments for rental assistance; consolidated emergency assistance; overnight youth shelters; and emergency shelter assistance; and
     (ii) Fund the homeless housing grant program.
     (2) The surcharge imposed in this section does not apply to (a) assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust, or (b) documents recording a birth, marriage, divorce, or death or any documents otherwise exempted from a recording fee under state law.
     (3) If section 2, chapter . . ., Laws of 2011 (section 2 of this act) is not enacted into law by July 31, 2011, section 1, chapter . . ., Laws of 2011 (section 1 of this act) is null and void.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.185C RCW to read as follows:
     (1) As a means of efficiently and cost-effectively providing housing assistance to very-low income and homeless households:
     (a) Any local government that has the authority to issue housing vouchers, directly or through a contractor, using document recording surcharge funds collected pursuant to RCW 36.22.178, 36.22.179, or 36.22.1791 must:
     (i) Establish and implement a process for promoting the availability of rental properties in buildings with fewer than fifty units. The process must include providing interested landlords with the opportunity to include relevant information on an interested landlord list and distributing the list to individuals and households receiving a housing voucher and agencies providing services to those individuals and households. The local government must use reasonable best efforts to communicate and interact with landlord and tenant associations located within its jurisdiction to facilitate implementation of this process;
     (ii) Using cost-effective methods of communication, convene, on a semiannual or more frequent basis, landlords represented on the interested landlord list and agencies providing services to individuals and households receiving housing vouchers to identify successes, barriers, and process improvements. The local government is not required to reimburse any participants for expenses related to attendance;
     (iii) Produce data, limited to document recording fee uses and expenditures, on a calendar year basis in consultation with landlords represented on the interested landlord list and agencies providing services to individuals and households receiving housing vouchers, that include the following: Total amount expended from document recording fees; amount expended on, number of households that received, and number of housing vouchers issued in each of the private, public, and nonprofit markets; amount expended on, number of households that received, and number of housing placement payments provided in each of the private, public, and nonprofit markets; amount expended on and number of eviction prevention services provided in the private market; and amount expended on and number of other tenant-based rent assistance services provided in the private market. If these data elements are not readily available, the reporting government may request the department to use the sampling methodology established pursuant to (b)(iii) of this subsection to obtain the data; and
     (iv) Annually submit the calendar year data to the department by October 1st, with preliminary data submitted by October 1, 2012, and full calendar year data submitted beginning October 1, 2013.
     (b) The department must:
     (i) Require contractors that provide housing vouchers to distribute the interested landlord list created by the appropriate local government to individuals and households receiving the housing vouchers;
     (ii) Using cost-effective methods of communication, annually convene local governments issuing housing vouchers, landlord association representatives, and agencies providing services to individuals and households receiving housing vouchers to identify successes, barriers, and process improvements. The department is not required to reimburse any participants for expenses related to attendance;
     (iii) Develop a sampling methodology to obtain data required under this section when a local government or contractor does not have such information readily available. The process for developing the sampling methodology must include providing notification to and the opportunity for public comment by local governments issuing housing vouchers, landlord association representatives, and agencies providing services to individuals and households receiving housing vouchers;
     (iv) Develop a report, limited to document recording fee uses and expenditures, on a calendar year basis in consultation with local governments, landlord association representatives, and agencies providing services to individuals and households receiving housing vouchers, that includes the following: Total amount expended from document recording fees; amount expended on, number of households that received, and number of housing vouchers issued in each of the private, public, and nonprofit markets; amount expended on, number of households that received, and number of housing placement payments provided in each of the private, public, and nonprofit markets; amount expended on and number of eviction prevention services provided in the private market; and amount expended on and number of other tenant-based rent assistance services provided in the private market. The information in the report must include data submitted by local governments and data on all additional document recording fee activities for which the department contracted that were not otherwise reported; and
     (v) Annually submit the calendar year report to the legislature by December 15th, with a preliminary report submitted by December 15, 2012, and full calendar year reports submitted beginning December 15, 2013.
     (2) For purposes of this section:
     (a) "Housing placement payments" means one-time payments, such as first and last month's rent and move-in costs, funded by document recording surcharges collected pursuant to RCW 36.22.178, 36.22.179, or 36.22.1791 that are made to secure a unit on behalf of a tenant.
     (b) "Housing vouchers" means payments funded by document recording surcharges collected pursuant to RCW 36.22.178, 36.22.179, or 36.22.1791 that are made by a local government or contractor to secure: (i) A rental unit on behalf of an individual tenant; or (ii) a block of units on behalf of multiple tenants.
     (c) "Interested landlord list" means a list of landlords who have indicated to a local government or contractor interest in renting to individuals or households receiving a housing voucher funded by document recording surcharges.
     (3) This section expires June 30, 2017.
     (4) If section 1, chapter . . ., Laws of 2011 (section 1 of this act) is not enacted into law by July 31, 2011, this section is null and void.