Drafter

Clerk 05/24/2018

Title

A MOTION proposing the allocation of future lodging tax collections to support arts, culture and heritage programs, workforce housing and youth services, and capital or operating programs that promote tourism.

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                     WHEREAS, rapid population growth in King County will necessitate building affordable and market rate housing near improved public transportation options, and

                     WHEREAS, equally important are:  the building of new gathering places, sites where our diverse histories can be interpreted and shared and public cultural spaces; and the preservation of historic structures that create community identity, encourage strong social connections and further opportunity for entertainment, education and interactions, and

                     WHEREAS, civic institutions, such as history and art museums, public galleries, community cultural organizations, performing art centers, sports venues and historic structures, play a central role in our economy, and benefit local businesses, residents and tourists, and

                     WHEREAS, arts, culture and heritage make this region an attractive place for new businesses that bring with them new jobs, as arts and heritage businesses add two billion dollars in business activity, eight hundred eighty-two million dollars in payroll and thirty-two thousand five hundred jobs to the central Puget Sound region, and

                     WHEREAS, the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District operates Safeco Field, which is a gathering place providing an array of public benefits and employs over two thousand full and part time employees, in addition to being a venue for the Seattle Mariners, and

                     WHEREAS, the Seattle Mariners attendance between 2012 and 2017 exceeded 12,100,000, with many coming from out of state and supporting the local tourist industry, and over 45,000,000 people have attended baseball games since Safeco Field opened, and

                     WHEREAS, the attendance at Kent's accesso ShoWare Center exceeded 400,000 in 2017, and the Center is home to sports and cultural events in south King County, and

                     WHEREAS, the county acknowledged with motion 14987 the Transit Oriented Development Bond Allocation Plan in 2016 with a goal of financing up to eighty-seven million dollars of housing projects, and

                     WHEREAS, as authorized by the state Legislature through RCW 67.28.180, beginning in 2021 thirty-seven and one-half percent of the lodging taxes generated every year in King County will be used to support art museums, cultural museums, heritage museums, the arts and the performing arts, and

                     WHEREAS, as authorized by the state Legislature through RCW 67.28.180, beginning in 2021 thirty-seven and one-half percent of the lodging taxes generated every year in King County will be used to support affordable workforce housing within one-half mile of a transit station and to provide services for homeless youth, and

                     WHEREAS, as authorized by the state Legislature through RCW 67.28.180, beginning in 2021 twenty-five percent of the lodging taxes generated every year in King County will be used to support tourism-related facilities, enabling the county to pay debt service on the Building For Culture Program bonds beginning in 2021 and funding new programs to support tourism;

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

                     A.  Beginning in 2021, King County intends to allocate lodging tax revenues for the following programs and to the following organizations:

                       1.  Thirty-seven and one half percent shall be transferred to 4Culture to support art museums, cultural museums, heritage museums, the arts and the performing arts;

                       2.  Thirty-seven and one half percent shall be allocated to the department of community and human services to support transit oriented development including projects that preserve or develop workforce housing and ongoing services or projects that support homeless youth;

                       3.  twenty-five percent shall be allocated by the county for the following purposes that promote tourism and attract tourists to the county:

                         a. debt service paid for the original Building 4 Culture bonds;

                         b.  a transfer of sixty percent of the remaining amount to the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District for twenty-three years for capital projects that will help to sustain the long-term viability of the facility; and

                         c.  a transfer of three percent of the remaining amount to the Kent Special Events Center Public Facilities District from 2021 to 2029 to support capital maintenance of the accesso ShoWare Center facility.

                     B.  The executive, in consultation with the council, will develop a countywide strategic arts, heritage, historic preservation, and culture plan for the allocation of the lodging tax revenues in section A.1. of this motion.  The proposed strategic plan should be forwarded to the council by December 31, 2019, in order to inform the budget process for the 2021 - 2022 budget.

                     C.  The council, the executive and county visitor and tourism organizations will work in collaboration to set up a tourism promotion fund in order to encourage visitors in all parts of the county.

                     D.  The executive is requested to develop and transmit legislation to support the identified planned allocations including appropriation requests, and any necessary

agreements with the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District, the Kent Special Events Center Public Facilities District or 4Culture.