Drafter

Clerk 10/27/2016

Title

AN ORDINANCE relating to the disposition of sale proceeds; changing the designation of the distribution of gross sale proceeds; and amending Ordinance 12045, Section 12, as amended, and K.C.C. 4.56.130.

Body

                     BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:

                     SECTION 1.  Findings:

                     A.  In 2001, the King County council adopted Ordinance 14260, which directed that, for transactions with gross sale proceeds of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or greater that are to accrue to the current expense fund, ten percent of the gross sale proceeds are to be deposited into the arts and cultural development fund.

                     B.  The council took this action in recognition of the fact that, beginning in 2002, arts and heritage programs experienced a sharp drop in funding due to a change in state law that reduced support from the lodging tax and the inability of the county's current expense fund to maintain ongoing support for arts and heritage programs.

                     C.  In 2002, the council adopted Ordinance 14482, which transferred King County's arts and heritage programs to a quasi-governmental public development authority known as the King County cultural development authority.  The charter of the cultural development authority requires the council to transfer moneys from the arts and cultural development fund, to the cultural development authority.

                     D.  In 2011, the Washington state Legislature authorized and the Governor signed ESSB 5834, which provided an ongoing source of funding for arts and cultural purposes through chapter 67.28 RCW, which will provide dedicated lodging tax revenues for these purposes beginning in 2021.

                     E.  King County's current expense fund has been increasingly unable to meet critical public safety and human services funding needs over the last fifteen years due to state-imposed revenue limitations.

                     F.  Shortfalls in the current expense fund have required the executive and council to make difficult reductions in the face of significant need.

                     G.  Because the arts and cultural purposes have been granted an ongoing and dedicated source of funding, and because the current expense fund is facing significant projected shortfalls, it is no longer necessary for a portion of surplus property sales to be used for arts and cultural purposes.

                     SECTION 2.  Ordinance 12045, Section 12, as amended, and K.C.C. 4.56.130 are each hereby amended to read as follows:

                     A.  The county organizations responsible for conducting sales shall be reimbursed for advertising, postage and selling fees, if any, from the proceeds of the sale.  The manager of the finance and business operations division is authorized to establish such funds and accounts necessary to deposit sale proceeds until final disposition.  The balance of the proceeds shall be deposited into the proper county fund or account, as directed by the facilities management division, the fleet administration division or the county council, as applicable.  ((On transactions with gross sale proceeds of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or greater that are to accrue to the current expense fund, ten percent of the gross sale proceeds are to be deposited into the arts and cultural development fund.))

                     B.  In no case shall the title be transferred until the purchase price has been fully paid.