House Bill 2610 amends existing property tax exemption law (amending RCW 84.36.805, RCW 84.36.049, and RCW 84.36.815 and creating new sections) to clarify and expand when nonprofit housing providers and related entities qualify for exemptions while allowing certain temporary community uses. The amendments authorize limited temporary rental/loan and fundraising uses of exempt property if rents or donations are reasonable, require nondiscrimination and applicable licensing, permit department access to records, and provide specified day limits for unauthorized uses (up to 50 days per year and no more than 15 days for pecuniary gain or business promotion, with setup/takedown days excluded). Properties already exempt under RCW 84.36.037 used for qualifying farmers markets are treated specially (up to 53 days and income restricted to capital, maintenance, or exempt purposes). If use limits are exceeded, the exemption is removed for the affected portion for that assessment year. The bill changes procedural requirements and creates financial consequences for loss of qualification. It modifies who may hold the exemption and when it expires: generally an exemption expires at the end of the seventh consecutive property tax year or the tenth year if a three‑year extension is timely claimed (extension notice by March 31 of the sixth year with a fee). Transfers between qualifying nonprofit entities or to qualified cooperative associations do not end the exemption if the transferee timely applies and is approved. Failure to meet required transfers or a conversion of use disqualifies the property and triggers an additional tax equal to the taxes that would have been due plus interest calculated like delinquent property tax; that additional tax is a lien with priority and must be paid before conveyance. The amendments also require specific notices to the Department of Revenue when exempt property is occupied or sold to low‑income households, allow the department to share information with the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC), and require certain financial statements to be made available to JLARC on request. The bill also amends application and renewal procedures (RCW 84.36.815): initial applications generally must be filed on department forms by March 31, renewal declarations are normally due March 31 annually (with some exemptions filing every third year), and initial applications for acquired or converted property must be filed within 60 days or face a late‑filing penalty under RCW 84.36.825. The act applies to taxes levied for collection in 2027 and thereafter; parts of the act have specified effective and expiration dates (some sections expire January 1, 2033, one amended section expires January 1, 2038, and initial applications under the amended RCW 84.36.049 are not accepted after December 31, 2027 and do not apply to taxes due in 2038 and thereafter). The extracted text is incomplete in places: some amended provision text is truncated, the specific new sections and some effective/expiration details are not included, and the referenced “department” is not explicitly identified in the provided material.

If enacted, the bill makes it easier for nonprofit housing owners and certain cooperatives to keep their property tax exemption while temporarily using parts of their property for community events, fundraisers, rentals or qualifying farmers markets, subject to strict day limits (generally up to 50 days a year, no more than 15 days for pecuniary/business promotion, with a 53-day allowance for qualifying farmers markets), reasonable rents or donations, nondiscrimination and licensing rules, and requirements that income from market use be used for capital, maintenance, or exempt purposes. The exemption is time-limited — generally seven years or ten years with a three-year extension for which a filing and fee are required — and the program has phased cutoffs and expirations (no new initial applications accepted after December 31, 2027; the section sunsets and exemptions do not apply to taxes due in 2038), though some timing and transfer details are unclear because parts of the text are truncated. Nonprofit housing providers and qualified cooperative associations are the most affected: they gain more flexibility to host community activities and raise funds without automatically losing tax relief, but they take on new reporting and notice duties to the Department of Revenue and JLARC, must pay an extension fee if seeking a longer exemption, and face the practical risk of having the exemption removed for an assessment year plus an additional tax, interest and a lien if they exceed use limits, convert the property, or fail to complete required transfers or notices; county treasurers and auditors will enforce collection and lien rules.