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AN ORDINANCE directing use of the King County historical preservation and historical programs fund; amending Ordinance 16835, Section 1, and K.C.C. 4.08.199.
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PREAMBLE:
For over forty years, King County has been a leader in its support for cultural resources. Heritage and historic preservation enhance the quality of life of our citizens, preserve our rich regional heritage, and foster civic pride.
King County has a historic preservation program that works to preserve the diverse array of historic and archaeological resources for future generations, such as historic transportation corridors, restoration of historic main streets in rural and suburban areas, and adaptive reuse of the county's historical residential and commercial building stock. The historic preservation program also reviews development proposals to ensure compliance with local, state and federal cultural resource laws.
Beginning with 2003, the county created the cultural development authority (known as 4Culture) to serve as the county's cultural services agency, providing programs, financial support and services in the arts, public art, heritage and historic preservation. 4Culture supports, advocates for and preserves the cultural resources of the region, ensuring that King County citizens and visitors have access to high-quality cultural programs and experiences (K.C.C. 2.49.030).
The King County historic preservation program and 4Culture provide complementary services valued by all county residents interested in preservation and heritage.
In 2005, the state legislature passed House Bill 1386, which became Chapter 442, Laws of Washington 2005. It increased the document recording surcharge under RCW 36.22.170 and specified that one dollar of the surcharge was to be used at the discretion of the county commissioners "to promote historical preservation or historical programs, which may include preservation of historic documents."
In 2009, in Ordinance 16579 the council created the historic preservation and historical programs advisory task force. The task force was charged with making short-term and long-term recommendations to the council on how to allocate the recording fee surcharge in order to best support and promote historic preservation and historical programs in King County.
The task force was comprised of eight members, all with expertise in historic preservation or historical programs and representing varied organizations and the county's geographic diversity. The task force submitted a final report on March 1, 2010 with recommendations for use of the surcharge.
The task force's first recommendation was the creation of a dedicated first tier account to allow for specific tracking of expenditures for the one-dollar surcharge. In May 2009, the council adopted Ordinance 16835, creating the historical preservation and historical programs fund for the receipt of revenues and the disbursement of expenditures of the one dollar surcharge to promote historical preservation or historical programs as allowed under RCW 36.22.170.
The task force's second recommendation was that the one-dollar document recording fee surcharge be allocated between the King County historic preservation program and the King County cultural development authority. Specifically, the task force suggested that from the years 2011 through 2015, the historic preservation program should receive forty percent and the cultural development authority sixty percent. From 2016 and thereafter, the historic preservation program should receive thirty-five percent and the cultural development authority sixty-five percent.
The task force was created by the council in order to lend expert input from the historical preservation and historical programs community on how best to use the document surcharge funds. The council appreciates the extensive time and effort committed by the task force in this endeavor. The task force's report indicates a clear understanding of the difficult current economic climate, and the task force has developed thoughtful recommendations on how best to use the funds in a manner that furthers historical preservation and historical programs while being sensitive to the county's needs to support vital services. This ordinance directs that the use of the historical preservation and historical programs fund be allocated in the manner recommended by the task force.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 16835, Section 1 and K.C.C. 4.08.199 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
There is hereby created the King County historical preservation and historical programs fund to provide for the receipt of revenues and the disbursement of expenditures of the one dollar surcharge to promote historical preservation or historical programs as allowed under RCW 36.22.170. The fund shall be a first tier fund as described in this chapter. For document recording surcharge revenues for the years 2011 through 2015 that are received in this fund, forty percent shall be allocated to the King County historic preservation program or its successor and sixty percent shall be allocated to the cultural development authority of King County. For document recording surcharge revenues for the year 2016 and thereafter that are received in this fund, thirty-five percent shall be allocated to the King County historic preservation program or its successor and sixty-five percent shall be allocated to the cultural development authority of King County.