(1) Thirty days after the anniversary of the date of the certificate of tax exemption and each year for the tax exemption period, the owner of the rehabilitated or newly constructed property, or the qualified nonprofit or local government that will assure permanent affordable homeownership for at least 25 percent of the units for properties receiving an exemption under RCW 84.14.021, must file with a designated authorized representative of the city or county an annual report indicating the following:
(a) A statement of occupancy and vacancy of the rehabilitated or newly constructed property during the twelve months ending with the anniversary date;
(b) A certification by the owner that the property has not changed use and, if applicable, that the property has been in compliance with the affordable housing requirements as described in RCW 84.14.020 since the date of the certificate approved by the city or county;
(c) A description of changes or improvements constructed after issuance of the certificate of tax exemption; and
(d) Any additional information requested by the city or county in regards to the units receiving a tax exemption.
(2) All cities or counties, which issue certificates of tax exemption for multiunit housing that conform to the requirements of this chapter, must report annually by April 1st of each year, beginning in 2007, to the department of commerce. A city or county must be in compliance with the reporting requirements of this section to offer certificates of tax exemption for multiunit housing authorized in this chapter. The report must include the following information:
(a) The number of tax exemption certificates granted;
(b) The total number and type of units produced or to be produced;
(c) The number, size, and type of units produced or to be produced meeting affordable housing requirements;
(d) The actual development cost of each unit produced;
(e) The total monthly rent or total sale amount of each unit produced;
(f) The annual household income and household size for each of the affordable units receiving a tax exemption and a summary of these figures for the city or county; and
(g) The value of the tax exemption for each project receiving a tax exemption and the total value of tax exemptions granted.
(3)(a) The department of commerce must adopt and implement a program to effectively audit or review that the owner or operator of each property for which a certificate of tax exemption has been issued, except for those properties receiving an exemption that are owned or operated by a nonprofit or for those properties receiving an exemption from a city or county that operates an independent audit or review program, is offering the number of units at rents as committed to in the approved application for an exemption and that the tenants are being properly screened to be qualified for an income-restricted unit. The audit or review program must be adopted in consultation with local governments and other stakeholders and may be based on auditing a percentage of income-restricted units or properties annually. A private owner or operator of a property for which a certificate of tax exemption has been issued under this chapter, must be audited at least once every five years.
(b) If the review or audit required under (a) of this subsection for a given property finds that the owner or operator is not offering the number of units at rents as committed to in the approved application or is not properly screening tenants for income-restricted units, the department of commerce must notify the city or county and the city or county must impose and collect a sliding scale penalty not to exceed an amount calculated by subtracting the amount of rents that would have been collected had the owner or operator complied with their commitment from the amount of rents collected by the owner or operator for the income-restricted units, with consideration of the severity of the noncompliance. If a subsequent review or audit required under (a) of this subsection for a given property finds continued substantial noncompliance with the program requirements, the exemption certificate must be canceled pursuant to RCW 84.14.110.
(c) The department of commerce may impose and collect a fee, not to exceed the costs of the audit or review, from the owner or operator of any property subject to an audit or review required under (a) of this subsection.
(4) The department of commerce must provide guidance to cities and counties, which issue certificates of tax exemption for multiunit housing that conform to the requirements of this chapter, on best practices in managing and reporting for the exemption programs authorized under this chapter, including guidance for cities and counties to collect and report demographic information for tenants of units receiving a tax exemption under this chapter.
(5) This section expires January 1, 2058.
[ 2021 c 187 § 5; 2012 c 194 § 9; 2007 c 430 § 10; 1995 c 375 § 13.]