This bill amends sections of chapter 82.92 RCW and related statutes and adds a new lodging tax section to chapter 82.32 RCW. It revises procedures for a conditional sales and use tax deferral program: cities must approve or deny conditional certificates of program approval within 90 days and must issue written denial reasons within 10 days. If approved, the city issues a conditional certificate; within 30 days of a certificate of occupancy the conditional recipient must file statements about completed work, affordable housing, and that work was completed within three years of the conditional certificate (subject to a possible city-granted extension of up to 24 consecutive months). The Department of Revenue must issue a tax deferral certificate within 60 days of a complete application, provide guidance on documentation, and may not accept applications after June 30, 2032; the section expires July 1, 2032. Applications for deferral must include a waiver of the four-year limitation in RCW 82.32.100. The bill changes appeal and enforcement procedures. Applicants denied by a city may appeal to the city governing authority or designated official within 30 days and bear the burden of proving the city decision lacked substantial evidence; that local decision is final unless the municipality adopts an alternate appeal ordinance and the matter is taken to superior court under RCW 34.05.510–34.05.598 within 30 days. If a city denies a tax deferral, it must notify the Department and deferred taxes become immediately due and payable (subject to appeal); the Department must assess interest at delinquent tax rates and penalties retroactive to the date of deferral, and deferred tax debt is not extinguished by insolvency. The Department will determine amounts qualifying for deferral and must assess interest (but not penalties) on nonqualifying purchases. The bill also changes timing and notification rules for local tax changes. Local real estate excise tax changes may take effect only on January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1 and no sooner than 60 days after the Department is notified in writing; lodging tax changes generally may take effect only on January 1, April 1, or July 1 and no sooner than 75 days after notification, except that lodging taxes credited against state sales tax may take effect on the first day of a month no sooner than 30 days after notification. Taxing authorities must notify the Department in writing and provide a copy of the signed ordinance or resolution authorizing the change; annexation-driven changes must include the complete ordinance with legal description, boundary map, and parcel numbers. The bill amends RCW 82.92.050, 82.92.070, 82.92.090, and 82.46.080 and adds a new section to chapter 82.32 RCW. Important statutory definitions and eligibility criteria referenced in the revised provisions (for example, the precise definitions of “conditional certificate of program approval,” “eligible investment project,” and the text of the four-year limitation in RCW 82.32.100) are not included in the extracted facts and appear elsewhere in statute.

If enacted, cities will have firm deadlines and paperwork duties: they must approve or deny conditional certificates for eligible investment projects within 90 days, send denials with written reasons quickly, and make a post-construction qualification decision within 30 days after a recipient files required statements. Developers who receive a conditional certificate can get a sales and use tax deferral but must apply to the Department of Revenue before construction, provide documentation after occupancy, waive a specified four-year limitation, and face audits; if a city later denies the deferral the deferred taxes become immediately due and the Department will assess interest and penalties retroactive to the deferral date, and the tax debt is not wiped out by insolvency. These rules shift timing and legal risk onto developers (who bear the burden on appeals and must meet tight filing and completion deadlines, though cities may grant limited extensions), increase administrative and review workloads for city officials and the Department of Revenue (which must issue certificates within 60 days of complete applications and stop accepting new applications after June 30, 2032), and create clearer notification and effective-date windows for local real estate excise and lodging tax changes that may delay when local revenues can take effect. Key implementation details needed to understand who and what truly qualifies are missing from the provided text: the statutory definitions and eligibility criteria for “conditional certificate of program approval,” “eligible investment project,” and the practical effect of waiving the four-year limitation are not included here, so the exact scale of fiscal impact on developers and local governments cannot be fully determined.