Housing

Counties provide and support housing needs in a variety of ways. Because of direct and indirect impacts counties create to housing availability, location and cost, housing is also a required element of growth management plans.

In addition, some counties manage or assist in low-income housing programs. They may directly administer a residential program for those with special needs. They may run local housing authorities, which manage federally subsidized programs such as Section 8. Counties may assist in building and developing housing for migrant farm workers through their local non-profits and may work with their local financial institutions to develop capital projects from a diverse stream of funding resources. They administer the 10 - year plans to end homelessness and the use of the recent increases in document recording fees to improve housing availability.

Dramatic increases in housing costs in Washington State and, in particular, the Puget Sound counties are creating unmanageable pressure on existing unprotected private market affordable housing resources, including mobile home parks, which are being redeveloped with increasing frequency into high profit generating single family home sites by private developers. Overall the state estimates that there are approximately 65,000 mobile home park units throughout the state. Under RCW 59.21 the state has created a relocation assistance mechanism for displaced mobile home park residents, however, this fund is not adequate to the task and was only partially refilled during the 2007 session. Despite the newness of the fund’s creation, a significant waiting list already exits.

Local counties have been authorized to use document recording fees in support of the development of affordable housing for low and very low income households ((ESSHB 2060 (2003), HB 2163 (2005) and HB 1359 (2007)) – passed 2003). The state’s Housing Trust Fund continues to grow ($135 m in 2007) but is estimated to need to almost triple to meet the demand.

WSAC Policy:
Counties support the elimination of duplicative planning and regulatory burdens that impact housing affordability and support the reduction of other regulatory requirements that significantly impact housing affordability without a commensurate benefit for the environment or the general welfare of our communities.

Counties also support additional sources of revenue from both the state and federal level to assist in funding housing for low-income groups and other specific populations. Counties support the Legislature increasing the amount of funding dedicated to the Housing Trust Fund for the needs of special populations, the elderly, and those with low incomes. They support increased administrative flexibility in developing housing programs and the reduction of any state organizational barriers such as multiple licensing requirements from different agencies for capital facilities and unclear and overlapping directives due to multi-agency spheres of control. The state should enact additional protective measures for mobile home communities as the continued displacement of these communities directly threatens the housing of thousands of members of our communities.

Counties support adequate allowances for administrative expenses being included in whatever additional funds are provided that are administered by counties for affordable and/or special needs housing. Counties support additional resources being dedicated to the implementation of the Housing Assistance Act of 2005 to reduce homelessness over the next 10 years. Counties also support the use of performance measures in gauging the outcomes of their 10 – year plans to reduce homelessness by 50% when they are useful in measuring success and available without undue administrative burdens and cost.