This bill amends existing Washington law (RCW 82.14.390, 82.14.485, and 36.100.130) to change which public facilities districts (PFDs) may impose a local sales and use tax, to set and cap tax rates, and to change certain procedures for rate increases, collections, credits, expirations, matching requirements, and board compensation. It modifies existing statutes rather than creating a wholly new code chapter. On taxes, the bill sets a base maximum PFD tax rate of 0.033 percent under RCW 82.14.390 with a possible increase to 0.037 percent if a specified net-loss determination is made. It allows a PFD to raise its rate in 0.001 percent increments after written notice from the department, subject to RCW 82.14.055, caps combined tax under RCW 82.14.390 at 0.037 percent, prohibits certain PFDs from imposing the tax if the county has already imposed related taxes, and requires crediting between PFDs formed under chapters 35.57 and 36.100 if both impose tax. No tax may be collected under RCW 82.14.390 before August 1, 2000, and the tax expires when bonds financing the regional center and related parking are retired, but not more than 65 years after first collection. During the 2011–2013 fiscal biennium, statewide distributions tied to the additional authorized rate are reduced by 3.4 percent. The bill also provides a special small-county allowance under RCW 82.14.485 permitting certain older PFDs in counties under 300,000 population to impose limited rates (up to 0.025 percent or 0.020 percent depending on creation date and other criteria). On administration and other provisions, the Department of Revenue is directed to collect PFD taxes on behalf of the county at no cost to the PFD and to deduct the PFD tax from amounts otherwise due under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW; PFDs must match moneys collected with other public or private sources equal to 33 percent of the amount collected, and acceptable matching sources are specified (including cash, in-kind contributions, donated land, foundation contributions, and private partner amounts in public/private partnerships). The bill also amends RCW 36.100.130 to set PFD board member compensation at $100 per day for meetings or conferences, not to exceed $6,000 per year, allows written monthly waivers, and states this compensation is in addition to expense reimbursement. The text refers to a "department" making certain determinations in one subsection without explicitly naming it in that paragraph, and it relies on other statutes (including RCW 35.57.020 and multiple sections in chapter 82.14) whose full language is not included here, so the complete legal effect of some provisions cannot be determined from these extracts alone.

If enacted, eligible public facilities districts (PFDs) would have a small, capped new source of local sales tax revenue (generally up to 0.033 percent, with limited ability to raise to 0.037 percent or in 0.001 percent steps if the Department of Revenue finds certain net losses) that can be used to finance regional center projects and related bonds. That likely makes it easier for qualifying PFDs to secure and stabilize funding for construction and bond payments, but only if they can also provide matching public or private contributions equal to 33 percent of the tax proceeds; counties that already levy certain sales taxes can block a chapter 36.100 PFD from using this authority, and small counties have special, lower caps for older PFDs. Taxpayers subject to state sales taxes would pay a very small additional amount, the Department of Revenue would take on collection and loss-determination duties (collecting at no cost to the PFD and deducting the PFD tax from other amounts due), and PFD board members would have a clear daily pay rate of $100 up to $6,000 a year with options to waive pay for particular months. The bill relies on other statutes for key definitions (for example, what counts as a "regional center" and which department makes certain determinations), so some implementation details and eligibility questions would need cross-reference to those laws.