5287-S2.E AMH POLL TUCK 054

E2SSB 5287 - H AMD TO FIN COMM AMD (H-1430.3/21) 695

By Representative Pollet

ADOPTED 04/10/2021

On page 12, line 24 of the striking amendment, after "(3)" insert "(a) The department of commerce must adopt and implement a program to effectively audit or review that the owner or operator of each property for which a certificate of tax exemption has been issued, except for those properties receiving an exemption that are owned or operated by a nonprofit or for those properties receiving an exemption from a city or county that operates an independent audit or review program, is offering the number of units at rents as committed to in the approved application for an exemption and that the tenants are being properly screened to be qualified for an income-restricted unit. The audit or review program must be adopted in consultation with local governments and other stakeholders and may be based on auditing a percentage of income-restricted units or properties annually. A private owner or operator of a property for which a certificate of tax exemption has been issued under this chapter, must be audited at least once every 5 years.

(b) If the review or audit required under (a) of this subsection for a given property finds that the owner or operator is not offering the number of units at rents as committed to in the approved application or is not properly screening tenants for income-restricted units, the department of commerce must notify the city or county and the city or county must impose and collect a sliding scale penalty not to exceed an amount calculated by subtracting the amount of rents that would have been collected had the owner or operator complied with their commitment from the amount of rents collected by the owner or operator for the income-restricted units, with consideration of the severity of the noncompliance. If a subsequent review or audit required under (a) of this subsection for a given property finds continued substantial noncompliance with the program requirements, the exemption certificate must be canceled pursuant to RCW 84.14.110.

(c) The department of commerce may impose and collect a fee, not to exceed the costs of the audit or review, from the owner or operator of any property subject to an audit or review required under (a) of this subsection.

(4)"

Renumber the remaining subsection consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.

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