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A MOTION requesting the executive establish a regional workforce housing initiative and develop an implementation plan on options to utilize excess debt capacity to partner with housing agencies and housing developers to provide permanently rent-restricted multiple-unit housing.

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                     WHEREAS, King County established the regional affordable housing task force in 2017 through Motion 14873, with the charge to develop a recommended countywide affordable housing strategy, and

                     WHEREAS, the regional affordable housing task force's five-year action plan, accepted through Motion 15372, includes census data that showed that more than one hundred twenty-four thousand low- and moderate-income households in King County are cost burdened, with communities of color and renters disproportionately likely to be severely cost burdened, and

                     WHEREAS, the regional affordable housing task force's five-year action plan includes a goal to strive to eliminate cost burden for households earning eighty percent area median income and below, with a priority for serving households at or below fifty percent area median income, and

                     WHEREAS, in October 2020, the King County council adopted Ordinance 19179, imposing a one-tenth of one percent Health through Housing sales tax with the paramount goal of creating and operating one thousand six hundred units of affordable housing with related services, and

                     WHEREAS, King County currently has approximately nine billion dollars of debt capacity, and

                     WHEREAS, the King County council believes that people should be able to live close to where they work, which helps with climate, congestion, morale, and sense of community, and

                     WHEREAS, households are sometimes forced to relocate due to increased housing costs, evictions, or the loss of neighborhood community connections, and

                     WHEREAS, the King County council believes that people should be protected from displacement and should be able to stay in their home and community for as long as they choose, and

                     WHEREAS, workforce housing helps people live close to where they work and works to address King County's housing affordability crisis, and

                     WHEREAS, increasing the availability of market rate housing supply relieves pressures on the rest of the market and increases housing affordability, and

                     WHEREAS, King County lacks sufficient availability of permanently rent-restricted homes available to all, including low- and moderate-income households at or below one hundred and twenty percent area median income;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     A.  The council requests that the executive establish a regional workforce housing initiative.

                     B.  The council requests the executive develop a regional workforce housing initiative implementation plan on options to utilize excess debt capacity to partner with housing agencies and housing developers to provide permanently rent-restricted, multiple-unit housing.

                     C.  The implementation plan should seek to utilize at least one billion dollars in excess debt capacity towards this regional workforce housing initiative.

                     D.  The implementation plan should consider scenarios wherein rent would reflect full cost recovery of developing and operating the units, specifically principal and interest payments for the incurred debt.  The rent charged to residents should remain constant, other than to reflect interest rate changes on debt service.

                     E.  All recommendations in the implementation plan should prioritize King County's ability to maintain a strong bond rating.

                     F.  The implementation plan should include at least the following:

                       1.   An analysis of financing options that utilize the issuance of excess debt capacity to fund the construction, rehabilitation, or conversion of permanently rent-restricted multiple-unit housing that achieve a gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED program, or other equivalent program, where feasible;

                       2.  Recommendations on potential partnerships with housing agencies and housing developers, including the King County Housing Authority, the Seattle Housing Authority, and the Renton Housing Authority, with accompanying analysis of any statutory requirements on housing agencies to provide housing to households with certain income levels.  The recommendations should assess how to best harness the strengths of public-private partnerships in providing debt financing support for both new construction and acquisitions, revenue through master lease agreements, and wraparound services where appropriate;

                       3.  A plan for partnering with private sector businesses to provide impact equity for the development of the units;

                       4.  Options for leveraging County debt incurred in the development of the units to receive additional state and federal investments;

                       5.  Recommendations on which income levels would be housed in such units, including at or below fifty percent area median income, at or below eighty percent area median income, and at or below one hundred and twenty percent area median income, with a preference for creating opportunities for mixed income communities;

                       6.  A pro forma analysis on the feasibility of constructing new multiple-unit housing versus acquiring and rehabilitating or converting existing multiple-unit housing based on the income restrictions and funding mechanism proposed; and

                       7.  An explanation of how all projects resulting from the regional workforce housing initiative will prioritize fair labor practices, including the payment of prevailing wage rates to workers, policies to prevent wage theft, and the utilization of King County’s priority hire community workforce agreement program, as applicable.

                     G.  The executive should electronically file the implementation plan requested by this motion, as well as any necessary legislation to effectuate the recommendations of the implementation plan, no later than March 31, 2025, with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council chief of staff, the chief policy officer, and the lead staff for the budget and fiscal management committee, or its successor.  The implementation plan should be accompanied by a proposed motion that should acknowledge receipt of the implementation plan.