Washington SB 5211: Authorizing tax increment financing for local governments.

Bill Text

AN ACT Relating to tax increment financing; amending RCW 1
84.55.010; and adding a new chapter to Title 39 RCW.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply 4
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 5
otherwise.6
(1) "Assessed value of real property" means the valuation of real 7
property as placed on the last completed assessment roll.8
(2) "Increment area" means the geographic area from which taxes 9
are to be appropriated to finance public improvements authorized 10
under this chapter.11
(3) "Increment value" means 100 percent of any increase in the 12
true and fair value of real property in an increment area that is 13
placed on the tax rolls after the increment area is created.14
(4) "Local government" means any city, town, county, port 15
district, or any combination thereof.16
(5) "Ordinance" means any appropriate method of taking 17
legislative action by a local government.18
(6) "Public improvement costs" means the costs of: (a) Design, 19
planning, acquisition, required permitting, required environmental 20
studies and mitigation, seismic studies or surveys, archaeological 21
S-0399.1
SENATE BILL 5211
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2021 Regular Session
By Senators Frockt, Mullet, Conway, Kuderer, and Rolfes
Read first time 01/14/21. Referred to Committee on Business,
Financial Services & Trade.
p. 1 SB 5211

studies or surveys, land surveying, site preparation, construction, 1
reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, and installation of 2
public improvements and other directly related costs; (b) purchasing, 3
rehabilitating, retrofitting for energy efficiency, and constructing 4
housing for the purpose of creating or preserving permanently 5
affordable housing; (c) purchasing, rehabilitating, retrofitting for 6
energy efficiency, and constructing child care facilities serving 7
children and youth that are low-income, homeless, or in foster care; 8
(d) relocating, maintaining, and operating property pending 9
construction of public improvements; (e) relocating utilities as a 10
result of public improvements; (f) financing public improvements, 11
including capitalized interest for up to six months following 12
completion of construction, legal and other professional services, 13
taxes, insurance, principal and interest costs on general 14
indebtedness issued to finance public improvements, and any necessary 15
reserves for general indebtedness; (g) assessments incurred in 16
revaluing real property for the purpose of determining the tax 17
allocation base value that are in excess of costs incurred by the 18
assessor in accordance with the revaluation plan under chapter 84.41 19
RCW, and the costs of apportioning the taxes and complying with this 20
chapter and other applicable law; and (h) administrative expenses and 21
feasibility studies reasonably necessary and related to these costs, 22
including related costs that may have been incurred before adoption 23
of the ordinance authorizing the public improvements and the use of 24
tax increment financing to fund the costs of the public improvements.25
(7) "Public improvements" means:26
(a) Infrastructure improvements owned by a local government 27
within or outside of and serving the increment area that include:28
(i) Street and road construction and maintenance;29
(ii) Water and sewer system construction and improvements;30
(iii) Sidewalks and streetlights;31
(iv) Parking, terminal, and dock facilities;32
(v) Park and ride facilities of a transit authority;33
(vi) Park and community facilities and recreational areas;34
(vii) Stormwater and drainage management systems;35
(viii) Electric, broadband, or rail service; and36
(ix) Mitigation of brownfields.37
(b) Expenditures for any of the following purposes:38
(i) Providing environmental analysis and mitigation, professional 39
management, planning, and promotion within the increment area, 40
p. 2 SB 5211

including the management and promotion of retail trade activities in 1
the increment area;2
(ii) Providing maintenance and security for common or public 3
areas in the increment area;4
(iii) Relocation and construction of a government-owned facility, 5
with written permission from the agency owning the facility and the 6
office of financial management; or7
(iv) Historic preservation activities authorized under RCW 8
35.21.395.9
(8) "Regular property taxes" means regular property taxes as 10
defined in RCW 84.04.140, except: (a) Regular property taxes levied 11
by port districts or public utility districts specifically for the 12
purpose of making required payments of principal and interest on 13
general indebtedness; and (b) regular property taxes levied by the 14
state for the support of the common schools under RCW 84.52.065. 15
Regular property taxes do not include excess property tax levies that 16
are exempt from the aggregate limits for junior and senior taxing 17
districts as provided in R