King County set to bring in tax-free housing funding

King County will begin receiving millions of dollars this biennium to help fund affordable housing from a source that was created by the Washington state Legislature during the 2019 session.

The funds stem from the state’s HB 1406, which passed in April. It allows cities and counties to receive a state sales and use tax credit, which can be invested into affordable housing. The King County Council approved a pair of ordinances on Aug. 20 that will allow the county to begin receiving funds this biennium.

As per the state law, cities and counties had until this coming January to adopt a resolution of intent, and until July to pass an ordinance officially allowing the state money to begin coming in. However, King County ratified an ordinance first, which allows them to collect at the maximum rate of .0146 percent. Statewide, HB 1406 is making some $500 million available over the next 20 years. The money will be used to serve people making less than 60 percent of the area median income.

King County is set to bring in $4.2 million in the 2019-2020 biennium, which will increase to $7.2 million and $7.8 million over the next two bienniums, according to the ordinance. In total, the county is set to bring in around $100 million over the 20-year timeline. Taxes in the county will not be increasing as the revenue is essentially kicked back from state coffers.

The county reported that between the county and cities, some $200 million could be invested into affordable housing, permanent supportive housing and rental assistance over the next two decades.

For larger cities and counties, the funds can be used to buy, construct and remodel affordable housing. For smaller cities, it can also be used to provide rental assistance.

“It affords us an enormous opportunity,” said King County Council member Jean Kohl-Welles. “We’ve had tremendous success in our county, economic success, we’re really doing well. But with our successes have come enormous challenges.”

This includes dramatic increases in rent, housing displacement, income inequality and a rise in homelessness. The Regional Affordable Housing Task Force recommended last year that 244,000 new housing units were needed in King County by 2040 to address the housing crisis. The task force developed a five-year plan to build or preserve at least 44,000 affordable housing units, an ambitious goal.

The report noted that communities of color and renters were more likely to be severely cost-burdened, or spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs. Some 56 percent of black households, roughly half of Hispanic households and 35 percent of white households were severely cost-burdened. Renters are also more likely than homeowners to be spending upwards of 50 percent of their income on housing.

Additionally, those under the age of 25 and seniors were the most likely to be cost-burdened. Younger residents can’t save for homes and seniors struggle to find places to live on fixed income while shelling out cash for health care.

However, the 20-year investments allowed under HB 1406 may be a drop in the bucket, as the report noted that around $306 million of public money has been spent on building or preserving affordable housing each year in King County. The federal government hasn’t been funding its low-income housing tax credit program to keep pace with increased need.

The housing pinch hasn’t just hit Seattle and the Eastside. Nine South King County cities recently formed the South King Housing and Homelessness Partners to help struggling residents in the historically less expensive regions south of Seattle. Housing prices in Kent, for example, increased by 33 percent from 2012 to 2017, according to the task force report. And it was a similar story in surrounding cities.

On top of this, a significant portion of new housing being built is geared toward single renters and couples and not families, which hits immigrant and refugee families especially hard.