This bill amends existing law (RCW 82.46.075) to authorize counties, with voter approval, to impose an additional real estate excise tax at a rate of 0.5% of the selling price. The tax collection rules are to follow the manner, occurrences, and conditions of chapter 82.45 RCW except that the county may assign the tax obligation between purchaser and seller (with at least half imposed on the purchaser), and counties may enforce the obligation by an action for debt or by foreclosing a lien on the property in the same manner as mortgage foreclosures. The tax becomes effective 30 days after the authorizing election. Revenues must be deposited in a county-administered affordable housing account and used exclusively for developing affordable housing—covering acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, maintenance, and operation of housing serving very low-, low-, and moderate-income persons and persons with special needs. Disbursements are made after a competitive grant and loan process; the county legislative authority sets application procedures and approval criteria and may limit eligible recipients to private nonprofit affordable housing providers, the county housing authority, or public agency housing programs or public–nonprofit partnerships. The bill establishes voter-approval and petition procedures: a majority vote of county voters on the proposition is required; a petition must be signed by at least 10% of the voters who voted in the preceding general election; petition measures go on the next general election at least 60 days after filing (or a special election called for that purpose). A plan for expenditure must be prepared (at least 60 days before the election if initiated by county resolution, or within six months after voter authorization if petition-initiated), with consultation of city elected officials and at least one public hearing; proceeds must be spent in conformance with the plan. The extracted text contains deletions and does not provide statutory definitions for key terms or the full procedural text of chapter 82.45 RCW, so some statutory detail and prior text removed by the deletions are not available here.

If enacted, counties could place a new 0.5% real estate excise tax on property sales for voter approval and, if approved, start collecting a dedicated revenue stream for acquiring, building, rehabilitating, maintaining, and operating housing for very low-, low-, and moderate-income people and those with special needs. That money would be kept in a county affordable housing account and awarded through a competitive grant and loan process to nonprofit housing providers, county housing authorities, or public agencies (or public–nonprofit partnerships), giving local governments and those providers a new, predictable source of project funding but also obligating counties to run application processes, consult city officials, hold public hearings, and follow specified planning and timing rules before spending. Home buyers and sellers would face a new transaction cost because the county can assign the tax obligation to purchaser and seller (with at least half charged to the purchaser), and counties would have tools to collect unpaid tax by suing for debt or foreclosing a lien on the property, increasing collection risk for parties who don’t pay. Important details that affect implementation—precise definitions of income categories, exact procedures pulled from chapter 82.45 RCW, and some deleted prior provisions—are not included here, so how counties set application criteria, split the tax burden, and coordinate with cities could vary in practice.