This bill amends RCW 35.57.010 to modify which cities, towns, and combinations of those jurisdictions (and, in some cases, contiguous counties) may create and jointly operate a public facilities district (PFD). It allows legislative authorities of towns or cities in counties with population under one million to create a PFD, permits contiguous towns or cities to form a PFD by interlocal agreement under chapter 39.34 RCW, and permits a town or city (or contiguous towns/cities) to enter an interlocal agreement with a contiguous county or the county in which they are located to create a PFD. It also retains a limited exception for certain cities in counties over one million (cities with population between 80,000 and 115,000 that began construction of a regional center before July 1, 2008). The amendment also authorizes groups of previously created PFDs (including at least three contiguous towns/cities with combined population of at least 160,000, or two or more contiguous towns/cities or towns/cities plus counties that participated in a prior district) to create an additional PFD while allowing the earlier districts to continue in full corporate existence. The bill modifies governance and procedural rules for PFDs: it specifies district boundaries as coextensive with the creating jurisdiction(s), sets board sizes and appointment processes depending on how the district was formed, requires four-year board terms with initial staggered shorter terms, and prescribes membership rules for an additional-district board (odd-numbered, up to nine members, equal representation from participating cities/towns, and mechanisms to fill vacancies). For a board created under the additional-district provision to submit a tax proposition to voters under RCW 82.14.048, a majority of the members representing or appointed by each participating legislative authority must agree. The amendment also designates a PFD as a municipal corporation and an independent taxing authority and taxing district under the State Constitution, grants corporate powers (hire staff, enter contracts, sue and be sued), authorizes acquisition and transfer of real and personal property, and bars any direct or collateral legal challenge to a purportedly authorized PFD more than 30 days after creation by the legislative authority. This summary is based solely on the provided amendment text to RCW 35.57.010. The document appears to be part of a larger bill; other sections (for example, an effective date, other related amendments, or replacement deadlines) are not included here. The prior text shows a parenthetical deletion of a July 1, 2026 deadline for one creation provision, but the amendment text in these extracts does not state whether any new deadline or replacement language appears elsewhere. The term "regional center" is referenced but not defined in this excerpt, and detailed procedures under chapter 39.34 RCW are not reproduced here.

If enacted, more cities and towns — especially those in counties under 1 million people and certain small cities inside larger counties that already started regional center construction — would be able to form or join public facilities districts (PFDs) and to create new, overlapping PFDs while keeping older districts active. Practically this gives those local governments more ways to pool authority and resources to build or run facilities and to exercise the powers of a municipal taxing authority, which means new options to raise revenue and enter contracts but also new responsibilities for appointing and overseeing boards and sharing costs with neighboring jurisdictions. The law also sets how boards must be composed and appointed, requires equal representation rules for multi-city districts, and shortens the window for lawsuits challenging a district to 30 days, which makes projects faster to finalize but gives opponents less time to contest them. Important implementation details are missing here — for example exact deadlines, an effective date, and what the bill means by “regional center” — so the timing, scope of taxing or financing actions, and some operational choices may remain unclear until those parts are available.