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

(1) “Annual state contribution limit” means seven million five hundred thousand dollars statewide per fiscal year.

(2) “Assessed value” means the valuation of taxable real property as placed on the last completed assessment roll.

(3) “Board” means the community economic revitalization board under chapter 43.160 RCW.

(4) “Dedicated” means pledged, set aside, allocated, received, budgeted, or otherwise identified.

(5) “Demonstration project” means one of the following projects:

(a) Bellingham waterfront redevelopment project;

(b) Spokane river district project at Liberty Lake; and

(c) Vancouver riverwest project.

(6) “Department” means the department of revenue.

(7) “Fiscal year” means the twelve-month period beginning July 1st and ending the following June 30th.

(8) “Local excise tax allocation revenue” means an amount of local excise taxes equal to some or all of the sponsoring local government’s local excise tax increment, amounts of local excise taxes equal to some or all of any participating local government’s excise tax increment as agreed upon in the written agreement under RCW 39.102.080(1), or both, and dedicated to local infrastructure financing.

(9) “Local excise tax increment” means an amount equal to the estimated annual increase in local excise taxes in each calendar year following the approval of the revenue development area by the board from taxable activity within the revenue development area, as set forth in the application provided to the board under RCW 39.102.040, and updated in accordance with RCW 39.102.140(1)(f).

(10) “Local excise taxes” means local revenues derived from the imposition of sales and use taxes authorized in RCW 82.14.030.

(11) “Local government” means any city, town, county, port district, and any federally recognized Indian tribe.

(12) “Local infrastructure financing” means the use of revenues received from local excise tax allocation revenues, local property tax allocation revenues, other revenues from local public sources, and revenues received from the local option sales and use tax authorized in RCW 82.14.475, dedicated to pay either the principal and interest on bonds authorized under RCW 39.102.150 or to pay public improvement costs on a pay-as-you-go basis subject to RCW 39.102.195, or both.

(13) “Local property tax allocation revenue” means those tax revenues derived from the receipt of regular property taxes levied on the property tax allocation revenue value and used for local infrastructure financing.

(14) “Low-income housing” means residential housing for low-income persons or families who lack the means which is necessary to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings, without overcrowding. For the purposes of this subsection, “low income” means income that does not exceed eighty percent of the median family income for the standard metropolitan statistical area in which the revenue development area is located.

(15) “Ordinance” means any appropriate method of taking legislative action by a local government.

(16) “Participating local government” means a local government having a revenue development area within its geographic boundaries that has entered into a written agreement with a sponsoring local government as provided in RCW 39.102.080 to allow the use of all or some of its local excise tax allocation revenues or other revenues from local public sources dedicated for local infrastructure financing.

(17) “Participating taxing district” means a local government having a revenue development area within its geographic boundaries that has entered into a written agreement with a sponsoring local government as provided in RCW 39.102.080 to allow the use of some or all of its local property tax allocation revenues or other revenues from local public sources dedicated for local infrastructure financing.

(18) “Permanently affordable housing” means housing, regardless of ownership, for which there is a legally binding, recorded document in effect that limits the price at which the owner may sell or restricts the occupancy of the unit to a qualified, low-income household, for a period of at least forty years for a property used for shelter or rental housing, or for a period of at least twenty-five years for a property to be owned by a low-income household. These documents include, but are not limited to, affordability covenants, deed restrictions, and community land trust leases. Resale restrictions exercised by providers of permanently affordable housing can include, but are not limited to:

(a) Continuous ownership of land by a public entity or nonprofit housing provider with a lease allowing ownership of the structure by an income-eligible household;

(b) A nonpossessory interest or right in real property, such as a deed restriction, restrictive covenant, resale restriction[,] or other contractual agreement, that ensures affordability.

(19) “Property tax allocation revenue base value” means the assessed value of real property located within a revenue development area less the property tax allocation revenue value.

(20)(a)(i) “Property tax allocation revenue value” means seventy-five percent of any increase in the assessed value of real property in a revenue development area resulting from:

(A) The placement of new construction, improvements to property, or both, on the assessment roll, where the new construction and improvements are initiated after the revenue development area is approved by the board;

(B) The cost of new housing construction, conversion, and rehabilitation improvements, when such cost is treated as new construction for purposes of chapter 84.55 RCW as provided in RCW 84.14.020, and the new housing construction, conversion, and rehabilitation improvements are initiated after the revenue development area is approved by the board;

(C) The cost of rehabilitation of historic property, when such cost is treated as new construction for purposes of chapter 84.55 RCW as provided in RCW 84.26.070, and the rehabilitation is initiated after the revenue development area is approved by the board.

(ii) Increases in the assessed value of real property in a revenue development area resulting from (a)(i)(A) through (C) of this subsection are included in the property tax allocation revenue value in the initial year. These same amounts are also included in the property tax allocation revenue value in subsequent years unless the property becomes exempt from property taxation.

(b) “Property tax allocation revenue value” includes seventy-five percent of any increase in the assessed value of new construction consisting of an entire building in the years following the initial year, unless the building becomes exempt from property taxation.

(c) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, “property tax allocation revenue value” does not include any increase in the assessed value of real property after the initial year.

(d) There is no property tax allocation revenue value if the assessed value of real property in a revenue development area has not increased as a result of any of the reasons specified in (a)(i)(A) through (C) of this subsection.

(e) For purposes of this subsection, “initial year” means:

(i) For new construction and improvements to property added to the assessment roll, the year during which the new construction and improvements are initially placed on the assessment roll;

(ii) For the cost of new housing construction, conversion, and rehabilitation improvements, when such cost is treated as new construction for purposes of chapter 84.55 RCW, the year when such cost is treated as new construction for purposes of levying taxes for collection in the following year; and

(iii) For the cost of rehabilitation of historic property, when such cost is treated as new construction for purposes of chapter 84.55 RCW, the year when such cost is treated as new construction for purposes of levying taxes for collection in the following year.

(21) “Public improvement costs” means the cost of: (a) Design, planning, acquisition including land acquisition, site preparation including land clearing, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, and installation of public improvements; (b) demolishing, relocating, maintaining, and operating property pending construction of public improvements; (c) the local government’s portion of relocating utilities as a result of public improvements; (d) financing public improvements, including interest during construction, legal and other professional services, taxes, insurance, principal and interest costs on general indebtedness issued to finance public improvements, and any necessary reserves for general indebtedness; (e) assessments incurred in revaluing real property for the purpose of determining the property tax allocation revenue base value that are in excess of costs incurred by the assessor in accordance with the revaluation plan under chapter 84.41 RCW, and the costs of apportioning the taxes and complying with this chapter and other applicable law; (f) administrative expenses and feasibility studies reasonably necessary and related to these costs; and (g) any of the above-described costs that may have been incurred before adoption of the ordinance authorizing the public improvements and the use of local infrastructure financing to fund the costs of the public improvements.

(22) “Public improvements” means:

(a) Infrastructure improvements within the revenue development area that include:

(i) Street, bridge, and road construction and maintenance, including highway interchange construction;

(ii) Water and sewer system construction and improvements, including wastewater reuse facilities;

(iii) Sidewalks, traffic controls, and streetlights;

(iv) Parking, terminal, and dock facilities;

(v) Park and ride facilities of a transit authority;

(vi) Park facilities and recreational areas, including trails; and

(vii) Stormwater and drainage management systems;

(b) Expenditures for facilities and improvements that support affordable housing as defined in RCW 43.63A.510; and

(c) Expenditures to purchase, rehabilitate, retrofit for energy efficiency, and construct housing for the purpose of creating or preserving permanently affordable housing.

(23) “Real property” has the same meaning as in RCW 84.04.090 and also includes any privately owned improvements located on publicly owned land that are subject to property taxation.

(24) “Regular property taxes” means regular property taxes as defined in RCW 84.04.140, except: (a) Regular property taxes levied by public utility districts specifically for the purpose of making required payments of principal and interest on general indebtedness; (b) regular property taxes levied by the state for the support of the common schools under RCW 84.52.065; and (c) regular property taxes authorized by RCW 84.55.050 that are limited to a specific purpose. “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.

(25) “Relocating a business” means the closing of a business and the reopening of that business, or the opening of a new business that engages in the same activities as the previous business, in a different location within a one-year period, when an individual or entity has an ownership interest in the business at the time of closure and at the time of opening or reopening. “Relocating a business” does not include the closing and reopening of a business in a new location where the business has been acquired and is under entirely new ownership at the new location, or the closing and reopening of a business in a new location as a result of the exercise of the power of eminent domain.

(26) “Revenue development area” means the geographic area adopted by a sponsoring local government and approved by the board, from which local excise and property tax allocation revenues are derived for local infrastructure financing.

(27)(a) “Revenues from local public sources” means:

(i) Amounts of local excise tax allocation revenues and local property tax allocation revenues, dedicated by sponsoring local governments, participating local governments, and participating taxing districts, for local infrastructure financing; and

(ii) Any other local revenues, except as provided in (b) of this subsection, including revenues derived from federal and private sources.

(b) Revenues from local public sources do not include any local funds derived from state grants, state loans, or any other state moneys including any local sales and use taxes credited against the state sales and use taxes imposed under chapter 82.08 or 82.12 RCW.

(28) “Small business” has the same meaning as provided in RCW 19.85.020.

(29) “Sponsoring local government” means a city, town, or county, and for the purpose of this chapter a federally recognized Indian tribe or any combination thereof, that adopts a revenue development area and applies to the board to use local infrastructure financing.

(30) “State contribution” means the lesser of:

(a) One million dollars;

(b) The total amount of local excise tax allocation revenues, local property tax allocation revenues, and other revenues from local public sources, that are dedicated by a sponsoring local government, any participating local governments, and participating taxing districts, in the preceding calendar year to the payment of principal and interest on bonds issued under RCW 39.102.150 or to pay public improvement costs on a pay-as-you-go basis subject to RCW 39.102.195, or both. Revenues from local public sources dedicated in the preceding calendar year that are in excess of the project award may be carried forward and used in later years for the purpose of this subsection (30)(b);

(c) The amount of project award granted by the board in the notice of approval to use local infrastructure financing under RCW 39.102.040; or

(d) The highest amount of state excise tax allocation revenues and state property tax allocation revenues for any one calendar year as determined by the sponsoring local government and reported to the board and the department as required by RCW 39.102.140.

(31) “State excise tax allocation revenue” means an amount equal to the annual increase in state excise taxes estimated to be received by the state in each calendar year following the approval of the revenue development area by the board, from taxable activity within the revenue development area as set forth in the application provided to the board under RCW 39.102.040 and periodically updated and reported as required in RCW 39.102.140(1)(f).

(32) “State excise taxes” means revenues derived from state retail sales and use taxes under RCW 82.08.020(1) and 82.12.020 at the rate provided in RCW 82.08.020(1), less the amount of tax distributions from all local retail sales and use taxes, other than the local sales and use taxes authorized by RCW 82.14.475 for the applicable revenue development area, imposed on the same taxable events that are credited against the state retail sales and use taxes under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW.

(33) “State property tax allocation revenue” means an amount equal to the estimated tax revenues derived from the imposition of property taxes levied by the state for the support of common schools under RCW 84.52.065 on the property tax allocation revenue value, as set forth in the application submitted to the board under RCW 39.102.040 and updated annually in the report required under RCW 39.102.140(1)(f).

(34) “Taxing district” means a government entity that levies or has levied for it regular property taxes upon real property located within a proposed or approved revenue development area.

Reviser’s note: The definitions in this section have been alphabetized pursuant to RCW 1.08.015(2)(k).

Application—2007 c 229: “This act applies retroactively as well as prospectively.” [ 2007 c 229 § 15.]

Severability—2007 c 229: “If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.” [ 2007 c 229 § 16.]