Title
Multi-Family Tax Exemption Program Requirements
Recommended Action
City Manager Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee
City Manager Recommendation:
Discuss potential options for revising the Multi-Family Tax Exemption program requirements, and provide staff direction on next steps
Report
Issue:
Whether to discuss revising requirements 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
Cary Retlin, Home Fund Manager, Community Planning & Development
Background and Analysis:
State Law
RCW 84.14 authorizes the City of Olympia to adopt a multi-family housing tax exemption program.
The primary purpose for the statute 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, including affordable housing, to meet the needs of the public desiring to live in the urban center; and
3. Be appropriate for the encouragement of construction of new multifamily housing and the rehabilitation of new vacant or underutilized buildings for multifamily housing.
For projects approved by the City Council under this program, the increased value of new housing units is exempt from Ad Valorum tax for a defined period of time after completion of construction (eight years for market-rate housing, or 12 years for affordable housing units). The value of the underlying land, previously-existing residential units, and any non-housing improvements (for example, the commercial portion of a mixed use development) are not exempted and remain subject to Ad Valorum tax.
Housing units are defined as affordable under the MFTE program's 12-year option if their ...
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