Spokane Municipal Code

Title 08 Taxation and Revenue

Chapter 08.07D Sales and Use Tax Deferral Program for Affordable Housing

Section 08.07D.020 Definitions

As used in this chapter:

1. “Affordable homeownership housing” means housing intended for owner occupancy to lower or moderate-income households whose monthly housing costs, including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed 30 percent of the household’s monthly income.

2. “Affordable rental housing” means housing for very low or low-income households whose monthly housing costs, including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed 30 percent of the household’s monthly income.

3. “Applicant” means an owner of underdeveloped property.

4. "Application Fee” shall be the fee adopted by the Spokane City Council for applications under this Chapter pursuant to SMC 08.07D.070.

5. “City” means the City of Spokane, acting through the Director of Economic and Community Development and/or the City Council, as provided in this Chapter.

6. “Conditional recipient” means an owner of underdeveloped land granted a conditional certificate of program approval under this chapter, which includes any successor owner of the property.

7. “County median price” means the most recently published quarterly data of median home prices by the Washington center for real estate research. F. “Department” means the administrative division of a government.

8. “Department” means the Washington State Department of Revenue.

1. “Director” means the director of Spokane Department of Community and Economic Development or the Director’s designee.

10. “Eligible investment project” means an investment project that is located in the City of Spokane and receiving a conditional certificate of program approval.

11. “Fair market rent” means the estimates of 40^th percentile gross rents for standard quality units within counties as published by the federal department of housing and urban development.

12. “Household” means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together.

13. “Initiation of construction” means the date that a building permit is issued under the building code adopted under RCW 19.27.031 for construction of the qualified building, if the underlying ownership of the building vests exclusively with the person receiving the economic benefit of the deferral.

1. 1. “Initiation of construction” does not include soil testing, site clearing and grading, site preparation, or any other related activities that are initiated before the issuance of a building permit for the construction of the foundation of the building.

1. 2. If the investment project is a phased project, “initiation of construction applies separately to each phase.

14. “Investment project” means an investment in multifamily housing, including labor, services, and materials incorporated in the planning, installation, and construction of the project. “Investment project” includes investment in related facilities such as playgrounds and sidewalks as well as facilities used for business use for mixed-use development.

15. “Low-income household” means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is more than 50 percent but is at or below 80 percent of the median family income adjusted for family size, for the county, city, or metropolitan statistical area, where the project is located, as reported by the United States department of housing and urban development.

16. “Moderate-income household” means a single person, family, or unrelated person living together whose adjusted income is more than 80 percent but is at or below 115 percent of the median family income adjusted for family size, for the county, city, or metropolitan statistical area, where the project is located, as reported by the United States department of housing and urban development.

17. “Multifamily housing” means a building or a group of buildings having two or more dwelling units not designed or used as transient accommodations and not including hotels and motels. Multifamily units may result from new construction or rehabilitation or conversion of vacant, underutilized, or substandard buildings to multifamily housing.

18. “Owner” means the property owner of record.

19. “Underdeveloped property” means land used as a surface parking lot for parking of motor vehicles off the street or highway, that is open to public use with or without charge, as of the effective date of this section.

20. “Very low-income household” means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is at or below 50 percent of the median family income adjusted for family size, for the county, city, or metropolitan statistical area, where the project is located, as reported by the United States department of housing and urban development.

Date Passed: Monday, February 27, 2023

Effective Date: Sunday, April 9, 2023

ORD C36357 Section 1