wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2313 > Original Bill

HB 2313 - Public grocery stores ¶

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Section 1 ¶

Cities are authorized to establish a publicly owned grocery store in underserved areas with food access gaps.
In establishing a publicly owned grocery store, a city may:
1. Acquire land and buildings;
2. Construct or rehabilitate an existing building;
3. Lease buildings to private or nonprofit operators, including long-term leases;
4. Transfer property to a community redevelopment authority for management and operation; and
5. Take private property for public use through eminent domain.
A city establishing a publicly owned grocery store may:
1. Apply for capital grant from the department of commerce to fund the publicly owned grocery store. Eligible uses of the capital grant funds include:
  1. Property acquisition;
  2. Property rehabilitation or tenant improvements;
  3. Equipment and other operating costs;
  4. Security and site infrastructure; and
2. Establishing food locker systems in underserved areas. For the purposes of this section, "food locker system" means a refrigerated or climate-controlled, secure-locker based food distribution system that allows for scheduled or on-demand food pickup and operates on a 24-hours-a-day basis;
3. Designate a tax increment financing area pursuant to chapter 39.114 RCW. Revenue collected may be used for:
  1. Property acquisition;
  2. Redevelopment of existing grocery store sites; and
  3. Improving access to existing food resources.
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1. A publicly owned grocery store may:
  1. Be publicly owned and operated by city employees;
  2. Be publicly owned and operated by a third party, including a private or nonprofit entity;
  3. Be cooperatively owned and operated with land, property, and operational support provided by the city and operations governed by a nonprofit entity or a cooperative board.
2. A contract between a city and nonprofit entity or cooperative board must include:
  1. Hours of operation; and
  2. Categories and types of products to be sold.
A city establishing a publicly owned grocery store may take certain actions to facilitate the establishment of such grocery stores, including:
1. Identifying and rezoning targeted areas experiencing food insecurity;
2. Allowing increased residential density around the publicly owned grocery stores;
3. Modifying parking or mixed-use requirements; and
4. Conducting environmental reviews consistent with state and local laws.
A city that establishes a publicly owned grocery store shall report annually to the department of commerce in accordance with RCW 43.01.036 on:
1. The financial status of the grocery store;
2. Community access to food;
3. The number of jobs created or retained;
4. For grocery stores funded through tax increment financing:
  1. An annual fiscal report; and
  2. An impact assessment on surrounding redevelopment; and
5. For publicly owned grocery stores operated by a third party:
  1. Data on sales categories, provided by the grocery store operator; and
  2. Compliance with contractual requirements and benchmarks established by the city, provided by the grocery store operator. Benchmarks may include data on local produce that was sourced and sold, the number of households served, and food waste.

Section 2 ¶

Code cities are authorized to establish a publicly owned grocery store in underserved areas with food access gaps.
In establishing a publicly owned grocery store, a code city may:
1. Acquire land and buildings;
2. Construct or rehabilitate an existing building;
3. Lease buildings to private or nonprofit operators, including long-term leases;
4. Transfer property to a community redevelopment authority for management and operation; and
5. Take private property for public use through eminent domain.
A code city establishing a publicly owned grocery store may:
1. Apply for a capital grant from the department of commerce to fund the publicly owned grocery store. Eligible uses of the capital grant funds include:
  1. Property acquisition;
  2. Property rehabilitation or tenant improvements;
  3. Equipment and other operating costs;
  4. Security and site infrastructure; and
2. Establishing food locker systems in underserved areas. For the purposes of this section, "food locker system" means a refrigerated or climate-controlled, secure-locker based food distribution system that allows for scheduled or on-demand food pickup and operates on a 24-hours-a-day basis;
3. Designate a tax increment financing area pursuant to chapter 39.114 RCW around areas experiencing a decline in food access. Revenue collected may be used for:
  1. Property acquisition;
  2. Redevelopment of existing grocery store sites;
  3. Infrastructure supporting the viability of existing grocery stores, including utilities, transportation access, and mixed-use housing;
4. Supporting the operations of a publicly owned or nonprofit grocery store.
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1. A publicly owned grocery store may:
  1. Be publicly owned and operated by code city employees;
  2. Be publicly owned and operated by a third party, including a private or nonprofit entity;
  3. Be cooperatively owned and operated with land, property, and operational support provided by the code city and operations governed by a nonprofit entity or a cooperative board.
2. A contract between a code city and nonprofit entity or cooperative board must include:
  1. Hours of operation; and
  2. Categories and types of products to be sold.
A code city establishing a publicly owned grocery store may take certain actions to facilitate the establishment of such grocery stores, including:
1. Rezoning targeted areas;
2. Allowing increased residential density around the publicly owned grocery stores;
3. Modifying parking or mixed-use requirements; and
4. Conducting environmental reviews consistent with state and local laws.
A code city that establishes a publicly owned grocery store shall report annually to the department of commerce in accordance with RCW 43.01.036 on:
1. The financial status of the grocery store;
2. Community access to food;
3. The number of jobs created or retained;
4. For grocery stores funded through tax increment financing:
  1. An annual fiscal report; and
  2. An impact assessment on surrounding redevelopment; and
5. For publicly owned grocery stores operated by a third party:
  1. Data on sales categories, provided by the grocery store operator; and
  2. Compliance with contractual requirements and benchmarks, provided by the grocery store operator.

Section 3 ¶

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

"Assessed value of real property" means the valuation of taxable real property as placed on the last completed assessment roll prepared pursuant to Title 84 RCW.
"Increment area" means the geographic area within which regular property tax revenues are to be apportioned to pay public improvement costs, as authorized under this chapter.
"Increment value" means 100 percent of any increase in the true and fair value of real property in an increment area that is placed on the tax rolls after the increment area takes effect. The increment value shall not be less than zero.
"Local government" means any city, town, county, port district, or any combination thereof.
"Ordinance" means any appropriate method of taking legislative action by a local government, including a resolution adopted by a port district organized under Title 53 RCW.
"Public improvement costs" means the costs of:
1. Design, planning, acquisition, required permitting, required environmental studies and mitigation, seismic studies or surveys, archaeological studies or surveys, land surveying, site acquisition, including appurtenant rights and site preparation, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, expansion, and installation of public improvements, and other directly related costs;
2. Relocating, maintaining, and operating property pending construction of public improvements;
3. Relocating utilities as a result of public improvements;
4. Financing public improvements, including capitalized interest for up to six months following completion of construction, legal and other professional services, taxes, insurance, principal and interest costs on general indebtedness issued to finance public improvements, and any necessary debt service reserves;
5. Expenses incurred in revaluing real property for the purpose of determining the tax allocation base value by a county assessor under chapter 84.41 RCW and expenses incurred by a county treasurer under chapter 84.56 RCW in apportioning the taxes and complying with this chapter and other applicable law. For purposes of this subsection (6)(e), "expenses incurred" means actual staff and software costs directly related to the implementation and ongoing administration of increment areas under this chapter;
6. Administrative expenses and feasibility studies reasonably necessary and related to these costs, including related costs that may have been incurred before adoption of the ordinance authorizing the public improvements and the use of tax increment financing to fund the costs of the public improvements; and
7. Funding for mitigation to impacted taxing districts as allowed in RCW 39.114.020.
"Public improvements" means:
1. Infrastructure improvements owned by a state or local government within or outside of and serving the increment area and real property owned or acquired by a local government within the increment area including:
  1. Street and road construction;
  2. Water and sewer system construction, expansion, and improvements;
  3. Sidewalks and other nonmotorized transportation improvements and streetlights;
  4. Parking, terminal, and dock facilities;
2. Park and ride facilities or other transit facilities;
1. Park and community facilities and recreational areas;
2. Stormwater and drainage management systems;
3. Electric, broadband, or rail service;
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 ix. Mitigation of brownfields;
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1. Publicly owned grocery stores; or
2. Expenditures for any of the following purposes:
  1. Purchasing, rehabilitating, retrofitting for energy efficiency, and constructing housing for the purpose of creating or preserving long-term affordable housing;
  2. Purchasing, rehabilitating, retrofitting for energy efficiency, and constructing child care facilities serving children and youth that are low-income, homeless, or in foster care;
  3. Providing maintenance and security for the public improvements;
  4. Historic preservation activities authorized under RCW 35.21.395; or
3. Relocation and construction of a government-owned facility, with written permission from the agency owning the facility and the office of financial management.
"Real property" means:
1. Real property as defined in RCW 84.04.090; and
2. Privately owned or used improvements located on publicly owned land that are subject to property taxation or leasehold excise tax.
"Regular property taxes" means regular property taxes as defined in RCW 84.04.140, except: (a) Regular property taxes levied by port districts or public utility districts to the extent necessary for the payments of principal and interest on general obligation debt; and (b) regular property taxes levied by the state for the support of the common schools under RCW 84.52.065. Regular property taxes do not include excess property tax levies that are exempt from the aggregate limits for junior and senior taxing districts as provided in RCW 84.52.043. "Regular property taxes" does not include excess property taxes levied by local school districts.
"Tax allocation base value" means the assessed value of real property located within an increment area for taxes imposed in the year in which the increment area takes effect.
"Tax allocation revenues" means those revenues derived from the imposition of regular property taxes on the increment value.
"Taxing district" means a governmental entity that levies or has levied for it regular property taxes upon real property located within a proposed or approved increment area.

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