wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 1252 > Original Bill

HB 1252 - Impact fee deferrals

Source

Section 1

  1. It is the intent of the legislature:

    1. To ensure that adequate facilities are available to serve new growth and development;

    2. To promote orderly growth and development by establishing standards by which counties, cities, and towns may require, by ordinance, that new growth and development pay a proportionate share of the cost of new facilities needed to serve new growth and development; and

    3. To ensure that impact fees are imposed through established procedures and criteria so that specific developments do not pay arbitrary fees or duplicative fees for the same impact.

  2. Counties, cities, and towns that are required or choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 are authorized to impose impact fees on development activity as part of the financing for public facilities, provided that the financing for system improvements to serve new development must provide for a balance between impact fees and other sources of public funds and cannot rely solely on impact fees.

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    1. Counties, cities, and towns collecting impact fees must, by September 1, 2024, adopt and maintain a system for the deferred collection of impact fees for single-family detached and attached residential construction. The deferral system must include a process by which an applicant for a building permit for a single-family detached or attached residence may request a voluntary agreement with counties, cities, towns, or other municipal corporations that allows for a deferral of the full impact fee payment.

The offered agreement must be publicly posted and must include a provision for payment of the impact fee:

    i. At the time of the issuance of a certificate of occupancy or equivalent certification for the lot or unit;

    ii. At the time of the closing of the first sale of the lot or unit occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit; or

    iii. At the time of final inspection.

b. If a county, city, or town has determined that payment of the impact fees is due at the time of the issuance of the certificate of occupancy or equivalent certification or at the time of the final inspection, the county, city, or town may withhold certification of final inspection, the certificate of occupancy, or equivalent certification until the impact fees have been paid in full.

c. The amount of impact fees that may be deferred under this subsection (3) must be determined by the fees in effect at the time the applicant applies for a deferral.

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    i. Unless an agreement to the contrary is reached between the buyer and seller, the payment of impact fees due at closing of a sale must be made from the seller's proceeds. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the seller bears strict liability for the payment of the impact fees.

    ii. The seller must provide written disclosure of a deferral agreement to the buyer as required by chapter 64.06 RCW.

e. The term of an impact fee deferral under this subsection (3) may not exceed 18 months from the date of building permit issuance.

f. A county, city, or town with an impact fee deferral process on or before April 1, 2015, is exempt from the requirements of this subsection (3) if the deferral process delays all impact fees and remains in effect after September 1, 2016.

  1. The impact fees:

    1. Shall only be imposed for system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development;

    2. Shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development; and

    3. Shall be used for system improvements that will reasonably benefit the new development.

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    1. Impact fees may be collected and spent only for the public facilities defined in RCW 82.02.090 which are addressed by a capital facilities plan element of a comprehensive land use plan adopted pursuant to the provisions of RCW 36.70A.070 or the provisions for comprehensive plan adoption contained in chapter 36.70, 35.63, or 35A.63 RCW. After the date a county, city, or town is required to adopt its development regulations under chapter 36.70A RCW, continued authorization to collect and expend impact fees is contingent on the county, city, or town adopting or revising a comprehensive plan in compliance with RCW 36.70A.070, and on the capital facilities plan identifying:

      1. Deficiencies in public facilities serving existing development and the means by which existing deficiencies will be eliminated within a reasonable period of time;

      2. Additional demands placed on existing public facilities by new development; and

      3. Additional public facility improvements required to serve new development.

    2. If the capital facilities plan of the county, city, or town is complete other than for the inclusion of those elements which are the responsibility of a special district, the county, city, or town may impose impact fees to address those public facility needs for which the county, city, or town is responsible.

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