wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5614 > Original Bill
It is the intent of the legislature:
To ensure that adequate facilities are available to serve new growth and development;
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
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.
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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execute a promissory note in favor of the county, city, or town imposing the impact fee for the full value of the impact fees imposed. The note must come due at the time provided for in (b) of this subsection (3). The note must identify each impact fee that it covers and the total amount of fees that are due. The note must be recorded with the county auditor at the expense of the applicant. If lots have not been created on the subdivision, the note must be recorded for the entire subdivision. The payment of the fees detailed in the promissory note is the legal responsibility of the applicant.
b. The promissory note 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.
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i. 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. If the applicant has not paid in full by the time of the first sale of the lot or unit occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit, then the impact fees are due immediately at the time of sale.
ii. If the full impact fees have not been paid within one month of the sale of the first sale of the lot or unit occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit, then the note bears interest at the rate provided for in RCW 82.32.050(2). The rate must be adjusted on the first day of January of each year for use in computing interest for that calendar year. The county treasurer must provide the county, city, or town covered by the promissory note with the variable rate on or before December 31st of the year preceding the year in which the rate applies.
iii. In addition to the interest provided for in (c)(ii) of this subsection (3), if an applicant has not paid the impact fees in full within one month of the first sale of the lot or unit occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit, the applicant must additionally be assessed a penalty of five percent of the total amount remaining due on the promissory note. If the promissory note has not been paid in full within two months of the time of the first sale of the lot or unit occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit, the applicant must instead be assessed a penalty of 10 percent of the total amount remaining due on the promissory note. If the promissory note has not been paid in full within three months of the time of the first sale of the lot or unit occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit, the applicant must instead be assessed a penalty of 20 percent of the total amount remaining due on the promissory note.
iv. The interest and penalties provided for in this subsection (3)(c) are collectible only from the applicant and may not be a lien against the property sold by the applicant for which the impact fees were due. An applicant who has not paid the impact fees in full within one month of the first sale of the lot or unit occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit are personally liable for the full amount of the note, unless the sale has been recorded in the official county property record.
d. 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.
e. The applicant must provide written disclosure of a deferral agreement to a property buyer as required by chapter 64.06 RCW.
f. The term of an impact fee deferral under this subsection (3) may not exceed 18 months from the date of building permit issuance.
g. 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.
h. For purposes of this subsection (3), an "applicant" includes an entity that controls the applicant, is controlled by the applicant, or is under common control with the applicant.
i. This subsection (3) does not apply to impact fees imposed to pay for public facilities under RCW 82.02.090(7)(c).
The impact fees:
Shall only be imposed for system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development;
Shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development; and
Shall be used for system improvements that will reasonably benefit the new development.
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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:
Deficiencies in public facilities serving existing development and the means by which existing deficiencies will be eliminated within a reasonable period of time;
Additional demands placed on existing public facilities by new development; and
Additional public facility improvements required to serve new development.
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.
Impact fees on development activity shall be considered under the impact fees ordinances adopted pursuant to RCW 82.02.060 in effect on the subject location at the time a fully completed project permit application has been submitted to the appropriate city official.