Title
Multi-Family Tax Exemption - Residential Target Area Boundaries
Recommended Action
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to direct staff to draft a resolution of intention to adopt expanded or additional residential target areas for Multi-family Tax Exemption Program for City Council consideration, as shown in Option 2 (Attached).
Report
Issue:
Whether to recommend expanded or additional residential target areas for the City's Multi-family Tax Exemption Program.
Staff Contact:
Leonard Bauer, Deputy Director, Community Planning & Development, 360.753.8206
Presenter(s):
Leonard Bauer, Deputy Director, Community Planning & Development
Background and Analysis:
State law authorizes the City of Olympia to adopt a multi-family housing tax exemption program (RCW 84.14). Olympia's Multi-Family Tax Exemption provisions are codified in Olympia Municipal Code Chapter 5.86.
The City Council first adopted the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) provisions in August 1997 (Ordinance 5713) with a 10-year property tax exemption for downtown multi-family projects. The code provisions were amended in December 1997 (Ordinance 5734) to add new residential target areas: Eastside (4th/State corridor between Eastside and Fir Streets) and Westside (Harrison Avenue corridor between Cushing and Foote Streets)(See attached map). After the State Legislature revised the 10-year exemption into an eight-year market rate or 12-year affordable housing tax exemption, the City Council adopted the eight- and 12-year provisions on January 26, 2009, along with refinements to the residential target areas (Ordinance 6618).
The primary purpose for the law is to provide added incentives to promote construction of housing in designated residential target areas. Designated areas must, as determined by the City:
1. Be within an urban center (with mixed commercial/residential uses);
2. Lack sufficient available, desirable and convenient housing opportunities, includi...
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