School district impact fees

AN ACT Relating to school district impact fees; and amending RCW 1
82.02.050. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 82.02.050 and 2015 c 241 s 1 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) It is the intent of the legislature: 6
(a) To ensure that adequate facilities are available to serve new 7
growth and development; 8
(b) To promote orderly growth and development by establishing 9
standards by which counties, cities, and towns may require, by 10
ordinance, that new growth and development pay a proportionate share 11
of the cost of new facilities needed to serve new growth and 12
development; and 13
(c) To ensure that impact fees are imposed through established 14
procedures and criteria so that specific developments do not pay 15
arbitrary fees or duplicative fees for the same impact.16
(2) Counties, cities, and towns that are required or choose to 17
plan under RCW 36.70A.040 are authorized to impose impact fees on 18
development activity as part of the financing for public facilities, 19
provided that the financing for system improvements to serve new 20
S-3546.1
SENATE BILL 5848
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Cortes and C. Wilson
Prefiled 12/08/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
p. 1 SB 5848
development must provide for a balance between impact fees and other 1
sources of public funds and cannot rely solely on impact fees.2
(3)(a)(i) Counties, cities, and towns collecting impact fees 3
must, by September 1, 2016, adopt and maintain a system for the 4
deferred collection of impact fees for single-family detached and 5
attached residential construction. The deferral system must include a 6
process by which an applicant for a building permit for a single-7
family detached or attached residence may request a deferral of the 8
full impact fee payment. The deferral system offered by a county, 9
city, or town under this subsection (3) must include one or more of 10
the following options: 11
(A) Deferring collection of the impact fee payment until final 12
inspection; 13
(B) Deferring collection of the impact fee payment until 14
certificate of occupancy or equivalent certification; or15
(C) Deferring collection of the impact fee payment until the time 16
of closing of the first sale of the property occurring after the 17
issuance of the applicable building permit. 18
(ii) Counties, cities, and towns utilizing the deferral process 19
required by this subsection (3)(a) may withhold certification of 20
final inspection, certificate of occupancy, or equivalent 21
certification until the impact fees have been paid in full.22
(iii) The amount of impact fees that may be deferred under this 23
subsection (3) must be determined by the fees in effect at the time 24
the applicant applies for a deferral. 25
(iv) Unless an agreement to the contrary is reached between the 26
buyer and seller, the payment of impact fees due at closing of a sale 27
must be made from the seller's proceeds. In the absence of an 28
agreement to the contrary, the seller bears strict liability for the 29
payment of the impact fees. 30
(b) The term of an impact fee deferral under this subsection (3) 31
may not exceed eighteen months from the date of building permit 32
issuance. 33
(c) Except as may otherwise be authorized in accordance with (f) 34
of this subsection (3), an applicant seeking a deferral under this 35
subsection (3) must grant and record a deferred impact fee lien 36
against the property in favor of the county, city, or town in the 37
amount of the deferred impact fee. The deferred impact fee lien, 38
which must include the legal description, tax account number, and 39
address of the property, must also be: 40
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(i) In a form approved by the county, city, or town;1
(ii) Signed by all owners of the property, with all signatures 2
acknowledged as required for a deed, and recorded in the county where 3
the property is located; 4
(iii) Binding on all successors in title after the recordation; 5
and 6
(iv) Junior and subordinate to one mortgage for the purpose of 7
construction upon the same real property granted by the person who 8
applied for the deferral of impact fees. 9
(d)(i) If impact fees are not paid in accordance with a deferral 10
authorized by this subsection (3), and in accordance with the term 11
provisions established in (b) of this subsection (3), the county, 12
city, or town may institute foreclosure proceedings in accordance 13
with chapter 61.12 RCW. 14
(ii) If the county, city, or town does not institute foreclosure 15
proceedings for unpaid school impact fees within forty-five days 16
after receiving notice from a school district requesting that it do 17
so, the district may institute foreclosure proceedings with respect 18
to the unpaid impact fees. 19
(e)(i) Upon receipt of final payment of all deferred impact fees 20
for a property, the county, city, or town must execute a release of 21
deferred impact fee lien for the property. The property owner at the 22
time of the release, at his or her expense, is responsible for 23
recording the lien release. 24
(ii) The extinguishment of a deferred impact fee lien by the 25
foreclosure of a lien having priority does not affect the obligation 26
to pay the impact fees as a condition of final inspection, 27
certificate of occupancy, or equivalent certification, or at the time 28
of closing of the first sale. 29
(f) A county, city, or town with an impact fee deferral process 30
on or before April 1, 2015, is exempt from the requirements of this 31
subsection (3) if the deferral process delays all impact fees and 32
remains in effect after September 1, 2016. 33
(g)(i) Each applicant for a single-family residential 34
construction permit, in accordance with his or her contractor 35
registration number or other unique identification number, is 36
entitled to annually receive deferrals under this subsection (3) for 37
the first twenty single-family residential construction building 38
permits per county, city, or town. A county, city, or town, however, 39
may elect, by ordinance, to defer more than twenty single-family 40
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residential construction building permits for an applicant. If the 1
county, city, or town collects impact fees on behalf of one or more 2
school districts for which the collection of impact fees could be 3
delayed, the county, city, or town must consult with the district or 4
districts about the additional deferrals. A county, city, or town 5
considering additional deferrals must give substantial weight to 6
recommendations of each applicable school district regarding the 7
number of additional deferrals. If the county, city, or town 8
disagrees with the recommendations of one or more school districts, 9
the county, city, or town must provide the district or districts with 10
a written rationale for its decision. 11
(ii) For purposes of this subsection (3)(g), an "applicant" 12
includes an entity that controls the applicant, is controlled by the 13
applicant, or is under common control with the applicant.14
(h) Counties, cities, and towns may collect reasonable 15
administrative fees to implement this subsection (3) from permit 16
applicants who are seeking to delay the payment of impact fees under 17
this subsection (3). 18
(i) In accordance with RCW ((44.28.812 and)) 43.31.980, counties, 19
cities, and towns must cooperate with and provide requested data, 20
materials, and assistance to the department of commerce and the joint 21
legislative audit and review committee. 22
(4) The impact fees: 23
(a) Shall only be imposed for system improvements that are 24
reasonably related to the new development; 25
(b) Shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of system 26
improvements that are reasonably related to the new development; and27
(c) Shall be used for system improvements that will reasonably 28
benefit the new development. 29
(5)(a) Impact fees may be collected and spent only for the public 30
facilities defined in RCW 82.02.090 which are addressed by a capital 31
facilities plan element of a comprehensive land use plan adopted 32
pursuant to the provisions of RCW 36.70A.070 or the provisions for 33
comprehensive plan adoption contained in chapter 36.70, 35.63, or 34
35A.63 RCW. After the date a county, city, or town is required to 35
adopt its development regulations under chapter 36.70A RCW, continued 36
authorization to collect and expend impact fees is contingent on the 37
county, city, or town adopting or revising a comprehensive plan in 38
compliance with RCW 36.70A.070, and on the capital facilities plan 39
identifying: 40
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(i) Deficiencies in public facilities serving existing 1
development and the means by which existing deficiencies will be 2
eliminated within a reasonable period of time; 3
(ii) Additional demands placed on existing public facilities by 4
new development; and 5
(iii) Additional public facility improvements required to serve 6
new development. 7
(b) If the capital facilities plan of the county, city, or town 8
is complete other than for the inclusion of those elements which are 9
the responsibility of a special district, the county, city, or town 10
may impose impact fees to address those public facility needs for 11
which the county, city, or town is responsible. 12
(6)(a) A school district that is in binding conditions pursuant 13
to RCW 28A.505.110 or under enhanced financial oversight pursuant to 14
RCW 28A.315.221 may use up to 25 percent of all moneys collected, 15
earned, or received in its school impact fee account for school 16
district operations and maintenance. This authority is limited to the 17
time period in which the school district is in binding conditions or 18
under enhanced financial oversight.19
(b) If a school district is under enhanced financial oversight 20
pursuant to RCW 28A.315.221, the use of impact fees for school 21
district operations and maintenance must be approved by the special 22
administrator appointed to oversee and carry out financial conditions 23
imposed on the district as recommended by the financial oversight 24
committee.25
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