HomeMy WebLinkAbout2264ORDINANCE NO.
�fL AN ORDINANCE of the City of Kent,
Washington, relating to and providing for
an environmental excise tax or dedication
in lieu of tax upon the construction of new
dwelling units and new commercial and in-
dustrial buildings, to generate revenue to
QI� help alleviate environmental and other im-
pacts of increased population and develop-
ment; creating a special fund known as the
U"Environmental Excise Fund"; providing for
deposits and expenditures from such fund and
defining administrative procedures.
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the people of the State
of Washington to encourage productive and enjoyable harmony be-
tween man and his environment, and to promote efforts which will
prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and to stimulate
the health and welfare of all the people, and
WHEREAS, it has been determined that the development
and construction of new residential living units and of new com-
mercial or industrial structures within the City threatens to con-
taminate and pollute the air, water and land within and surround-
ing the City, and
WHEREAS, such development threatens to burden and
overtax existing public facilities, utilities and services of the
City, and
WHEREAS, such development threatens to decrease the
amount of land available for parks and open space while at the
same time creating an increased user demand for parks and open
spaces for both active and passive recreational opportunities for
the citizens of the City and for such other persons who may use
such facilities, and
WHEREAS, the City has developed comprehensive plans
for the expansion and betterment of its sewer and water utilities,'
and is currently involved in a comprehensive study of the finan-
cial impacts of such expansions and betterments, the preliminary
findings of which show relatively short range funding requirements'
in the millions of dollars, and
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WHEREAS, the City has adopted a comprehensive six
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year street program, has studied the effects of development in an
area of the City known as the "Valley Floor" and has begun a city
^,wide study of the transportation and circulation needs of the City
over the next several years, all of which have shown or can be
lexpected to show financial burdens on the City which may not be
(entirely met by traditional methods of financing, and
WHEREAS, the City has previously adopted a comprehen-
sive park plan, and has determined that if that plan is to be via-
ble that as much as fifty million ($50,000,000) may be needed over
the next twenty years for the acquisition and development of
properties to simply keep pace with the City's current standard
for parks and open spaces as delineated in the Comprehensive Park
i
i Plan, and
WHEREAS, to a large extent the generally accepted 1
methods of financing expansion and betterments of the City's sewer
and water utilities, such as rate increases, revenue bond issues
and local improvement district financing may not be practicable
to maintain current parks and open space standards and to finance
necessary improvements to the transportation network and other
;facilities of the City, and
WHEREAS, it is possible if not probable that outside
funding sources such as federal revenue sharing and state and fed-
eral grant programs may be seriously curtailed in the near future,
if not altogether eliminated, and
WHEREAS, experience indicates that general revenues
i,
I' granted by development are at best sufficient only to offset the
cost of providing basic municipal services, and are not adequate
to offset the costs of major capital expenditures required as a
result of new development, and
WHEREAS, it has been determined that the imposition
and collection of a special, non-recurring tax upon the construe -
tion of new residential dwelling units and new commercial and
industrial buildings within the City is a practical and equitable
I' way of providing revenue with which the City may at least in part
meet and deal with and solve the serious ecological environmental
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problems created or compounded by the construction of such facili-'
ties within the City, and
WHEREAS, it has been determined that there may be sit -
1
uations in which it would be to the benefit of the City and an
j owner of land that land be dedicated to the City for some speci-
fied municipal purpose in lieu of payment of any tax contemplated
by this ordinance and that provisions for such dedications should
be made, and
WHEREAS, it has been determined that the number of
bedrooms in a dwelling unit and the gross area of commercial and
industrial buildings tend to bear a reasonable relationship to
the impact that the occupation of said units and buildings have
on the environment and quality of life in the City as well as a
reasonable relationship to the need for new and expanded facili-
ties, parks and open space, and
WHEREAS, the rate of tax set forth in Section 3 of
this ordinance has been determined to be fair and equitable and
reasonably related to the purposes for which it is imposed, NOW,
THEREFORE
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENT, WASHINGTON, DO
HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Definitions. For the purpose of this
article, the words defined in this section shall have the meaning
1 assigned to them.
i
Dwelling Unit. "Dwelling Unit" means and includes
any dwelling designed for human occupancy, which has one or more
rooms, with or without a kitchen or cooking facilities, except a
"hotel" and "motel" which will be considered commercial building.
Bedroom. "Bedroom" means and includes any room in
1 a dwelling unit, which is determined by the Director of Public
i
Works or his/her designee, to be intended, designed or constructedi
i so as to be suitable for use as a room to accommodate the sleep -
guest
ing needs of a resident or of a dwelling unit.
Section 2. Imposition. An environmental excise ax
I
i or dedication in lieu of tax is hereby imposed upon the construe-
; tion of each new dwelling unit and each new or any addition to
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i! commercial and industrial buildings within the City.
Section 3. Rates. The rate of the Environmental
I
Excise Tax hereby imposed is:
New Residential Building. I
a) Single Family. $300.00 per bedroom to a maximum
of $750.00 per dwelling unit including condomin-
iums.
b) Multi -Family. $500.00 per bedroom to a maximum
of $1,000.00 per dwelling unit.
New Industrial and Commercial Building.
a) $0.22 per square foot of gross building area.
The rates as specified above shall be annually re-
viewed by the City Council and, where deemed necessary, adjusted
accordingly.
Section 4. Determination of Payment of Tax. The
amount of tax due hereunder shall be determined by the building
official or his or her designee at the time of application for
building permit and full amount of the tax shall be paid to the
City prior to the issuance of a building permit unless payment has,
been deferred in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 of
this ordinance.
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Section 5. Deferred Payment. The City Council may,
at any time prior to the issuance of a building permit, determine
sthat the tax imposed by this ordinance be made in one or more
annual installments, not to exceed five such installments.
Any request for deferred payment must be made to thel
City Council in writing, specifying the reasons therefore. The
} Council may grant any such request upon showing that to do so
would not constitute a grant of special privileges, that a finan-
cial hardship would result from the failure to grant the request,
and that granting the request would not materially frustrate the
intent and purposes of this ordinance.
Any such grant of deferral shall be evidenced by a
written instrument signed by the appropriate parties promising
to pay the amount deferred together with interest on the unpaid
balance, which interest shall begin to run on the first day of
the month following acceptance of the written promise by the City
Council with interest to be three points above the Federal dis-
count rate unless that rate is greater than that which the City
MIM
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may legally charge in which case the rate shall be the maximum
which the City may legally charge. The promisory instrument shal
also contain, as a minimum, a provision for payment of reasonable
attorneys fees in the event the City is required to commence legal
action in the event of a default, and also a provision that the
venue for any such action may, at the City's option, be King
County, Washington.
Section 6. Fee or Dedication of Land Thereof. The
(procedure for determining whether an applicant for building permit
is to pay a fee, dedicate land, or both, shall be as follows:
1. At the time of filing a permit application, the
applicant shall, as part of such filing, indicate
whether he or she desires to pay the required fee
or dedicate property for parks or recreation,
open space or other municipal purpose covered by
this ordinance in lieu thereof. If a dedication
of land for this purpose is proposed, the designa�
ted area shall be shown on the plat map or site
plans as submitted and, at the request of the
City, shall be field staked.
2. The City Administrator or his/her designee shall
review all applications in which a dedication of
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land is proposed to determine whether the City
should require payment of a fee or accept the
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proposed dedication in lieu thereof, or a combi- i
nation of both. Said determination shall be
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based on the following:
a) Determination. Whether the City accepts a
proposed land dedication shall be determined
by the following standards which shall be ap-
plied so as to produce dedications of land
which will provide space within assigned mu-
nicipal function not just left over land per-
haps too steep or difficult for public use.
1) The applicable goals and policies contain-
ed in the Park and Recreation System Plan,
Open Space Plan Element of the City's
i
Comprehensive Plan, and other plans sub-
sequently adopted by the City Council.
2) Land which is not free and clear of encumb-I
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rances which materially detract from its
usefulness for park and recreation or other
municipal purposes shall not be accepted
for dedication.
3) Dedicated land shall have an area of at
least two (2) acres unless, (a) by reason
of location or natural features a smaller
parcel has a special amenity which justi-
fies its preservation or development for
park and recreational purposes; or (b)
there exists a reasonable feasibility of
incorporating dedicated land with other,
adjacent land in order to form a larger
and more useful tract; (c) there is a po-
tential for municipal use other than parks
and open space.
Said decision shall be transmitted to the
authority reviewing the particular application;
and shall be final except to the extent that
the application is subject to review or appeal
to the City Council, or Hearing Examiner in
accordance with the applicable procedures
established by the City for processing of pre -1
liminary plats, short plats and building per-
mits.
Section 7. Disposition of Proceeds: Creation of Envi-
ronmental Excise Fund. All proceeds from the tax collected under
this article shall be paid into a special fund of the City to pro-?
vide open space, improve the quality of life and the ecology of
the City, or of any distressed or environmentally endangered por-
tion thereof, and to fight pollution and contamination of the air,
water and land within and surrounding the City, to be entitled the.
"Environmental Excise Tax Fund" which fund is hereby created.
Said fund shall be used for the purpose of purchasing land, cul-
tural and passive properties, constructing buildings and improve-
ments, and purchasing machinery, equipment, and other capital typ�
facilities with which the City may develop, improve, and expand
open space, public parks and leisure areas, and municipal facili-
ties. In expending said fund for said purposes, the City Council
may act alone or may exercise its powers jointly with any public
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entity to accomplish any of the foregoing purposes for the benefit
of the whole, or any portion of the City of Kent.
Section 8. Five years from the adoption of this Ordi-
nance, said ordinance shall terminate unless the Council deter-
mines to continue said ordinance for a determined period of time.
Section 9, This Ordinance shall take effect and be
in force five (5) days from and after its passage, approval and
publication as provided by law.
ATTEST: ISA13EL HOGAN MAYOR
MARIE JENSPu4 CITY'CLERK
PROVED AS TOS FORM:
V
DONALD E. MIRK, CITY ATTORNEY
PASSED the day of December, 1980.
APPROVED the _ day of December, 1980.
PUBLISHED the ` day of December, 1980.
I hereby certify that this is a true copy of Ordinance
No. passed by the City Council of the City of Kent,
Washington, and approved by the Mayor of the City of Kent as
hereon indicated.
(SEAL)
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