Title
A MOTION directing legislative department staff to prepare a report, in consultation with all councilmembers and the executive branch that provides strategies for how King County can engage stakeholders in a public process to determine how to use proceeds from Sound Transit 3 in the Puget Sound taxpayer accountability account.
Body
WHEREAS, the Washington state Legislature amended chapter 81.112 RCW via Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5987 in 2015 to create the Puget Sound taxpayer accountability account, and
WHEREAS, the Puget Sound taxpayer accountability account is to be funded by a sales and use tax offset fee of three and twenty-five one-hundredths percent of the total payments made by a regional transit authority to construction contractors on construction projects that are: (a) for new projects identified in the system plan funded by any proposition approved by voters after January 1, 2015; and (b) excluded from the definition of retail sales under RCW 82.04.050(10), and
WHEREAS, on June 23, 2016, the Sound Transit board adopted the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure and placed it on the November 1, 2016, election, and
WHEREAS, voters in the Sound Transit regional transit authority, which includes parts of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, approved the ballot measure by a margin of fifty-four percent to forty-six percent, and
WHEREAS, between 2018 and 2035, King County is currently projected to receive approximately three hundred forty-five million dollars, and
WHEREAS, the proceeds are required to be used for a broad array of educational services to educational outcomes in early learning, K-12 and higher education, including, but not limited to, for youths who are low-income, homeless, in foster care or other vulnerable populations, and
WHEREAS, to the greatest extent practicable, the expenditures of the county must follow the requirements of the Sound Transit subarea equity policy, and
WHEREAS, the proceeds may only be spent after the Washington state Legislature appropriates them;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. Legislative department staff are directed to prepare a report that describes:
1. The intent of the state Legislature in adopting Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5987 to include a review of legislative history and, if necessary to clarify intent, based on consultation with elected legislators and staff;
2. Allowable uses for the King County portion of the proceeds; and
3. Strategies for how King County can identify unmet needs and how the funds can be used to meet those needs, including approaches to engage stakeholders and the public in this analysis. Staff shall also consider existing King County policies, including the Youth Action Plan, when developing the report.
B. In preparing the report, legislative department staff shall consult with and include input from councilmembers and the executive branch, including documenting work completed and public input received by executive staff.
C. The report shall be delivered no later than October 1, 2017.
D. The report shall be filed in the form of ten original copies and an electronic copy with the clerk of the council who will retain an original and provide a copy to all councilmembers and the lead staff to the committee of the whole or its successor.