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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5744 RESOLUTION NO. 5744 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN, WASHINGTON, ADOPTING THE 2024 STATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA WHEREAS, the actions of the Washington State Legislature in respect to local government issues, services, and funding have a profound effect on the City's ability to provide local services to its residents; and WHEREAS, the Auburn City Council believes that it is appropriate to communicate its position regarding issues affecting the City and local government that may come before the State Legislature during the 2024 legislative session. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN, WASHINGTON, RESOLVES as follows: Section 1. The City Council adopts its 2024 Legislative Agenda as set forth in Exhibit A. Section 2. The Mayor shall cause a copy of this Resolution be delivered to the City's State Legislative District representatives and to other regional government entities. Section 3. This Resolution will take effect and be in full force on passage and signatures. Dated and Signed: November 6, 2023 CITY OF AUBURN NANCY BA US, MAY• ' A ATTEST: A`P' • . it i —"eI1A 1 '-�',i— Shawn Campbell, MMC, City Clerk Harry Boesche, Acting City Attorney I 2024 State Legislative i PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE:The City of Auburn supports the continued reforms to policing and community caretaking in our State and wishes to continue working in concert with legislators, police officers, our communities and others to continue this effort. • REQUEST:Work with cities to make technical fixes those bills in which language is vague, conflicting or confusing. • REQUEST:add additional crimes that police are authorized to pursue,to include burglary, vehicle theft, and possession of stolen vehicles. ISSUE: Police agencies are currently in a staffing crisis.As we recover from the pandemic and also seek to fill vacated positions,we wilt need tools to ensure our departments are fully staffed and able to effectively respond to local public safety needs. • REQUEST:Additional funding for the Basic Law Enforcement Academy(BLEA)would drastically shorten the amount of time prospective police officers are on municipal payrolls without being able to get into training. • REQUEST:Additional funding for officer wellness and DEI staffing within police agencies. • REQUEST:Additional funding sources for officer recruitment and retention. Possibly through a councilmanic public safety sales tax or impact fee ISSUE: Impacts to towing companies from the Seattle v. Long decision force cities to expend more sums for towing services. • REQUEST: Additional dedicated funding to cities for towing services,or an increase in funding to the State reimbursement account under RCW 46.53.010 ISSUE: Ongoing crime/public safety issues related to illegal drug use. • • REQUEST: Restore drug free school zones and expand to community parks • REQUEST:Additional funding to implement new law(Blake fix) • REQUEST:Ongoing funding for therapeutic courts, recovery programs in jails and after treatment supports ISSUE: RCW 10.112.010 requi les a subpoena for records In a criminal investigation of an offense involving the sexual exploitation of children.This process is slow and can lead to further exploitation of children or allow the perpetrator to avoid arrest. • REQUEST: Change the requirement to a search warrant to allow officers to quickly identify evidence to interrupt the cybercrimes against children 2024 State Legislative Priorities REGULATORY & LAND USE ISSUE:As communities grow there are no impact fees to benefit police. • REQUEST: Enact legislation that would allow cities to collect a police impact fee since added population and businesses have the same resource demands and challenges as fire, transportation, parks and schools. ISSUE:Affordable housing needs are deeper than 60%AMI—more like 50%or 40%. Washington State Housing Finance Commission programs are providing great support for projects that hit the 60%AMI mark. • REQUEST: Create incentives to hit the deeper marks since that is where the greatest need exists. • REQUEST: Future legisli tion related to affordable housing, missing middle housing or other land use laws must provide safe harbor for those cities that are creating or in the process of creating their Housing Action Plan (HAP) in line with previous legislative actions that included grant funding provided by the State Legislature. ISSUE: Rehabilitate Existing AffordableIhousing.There are very few programs that help maintain older homes and multifamily cornplekes which results in one of two outcomes(1) older properties are maintained appropriately but the investment is reflected in increasing rental costs, or(2)older properties are not maintained which helps keep rental costs down but at the sake of declining health and safety. • REQUEST: Create dedicated funds to put towards the rehabilitation of single or multifamily units because it is far less expensive and environmentally sustainable to preserve existing housing stock instead of building new units and will ensure housing stock is readily available in the market. ISSUE:The large number of regulatory processes are a hindrance to bringing affordable housing projects to fruition including SEPA, GMA, NPDES. State Environmental Policy Act(SEPA) is an outdated and overly burdensome process that adds time and money. Growth Management Act(GMA) and affordable housing objectives are at direct odds because the GMA limits supply which increases costs. National Pollutant Discharge Eliminatio I System (NPDES) adds significant cost to development which is passed on to future owners or tenants. • REQUEST:Allow proc dural relief for any mandates that the State Legislature imparts upon cities.Work with cities to make it easier for us to update our local laws if or when it is in response to a State mandate rather than having to go through all of the obligations related to the planning commission,SEPA, public notice, etc. ISSUE:The 2023 legislative session introduced a high volume of planning and zoning changes centered around affordable housing.Thle City of Auburn supports efforts to address the current housing crisis in Washington and in King County specifically and want to part of the solution. • REQUEST:Allow cities time to respond to the recent changes in planning and zoning laws from 2023 and also to ensure the changes are accomplishing the desired results. • REQUEST: Remedy conflicting or vague language in the multitude of planning and zoning bills passed in recent years. For example,the definition of a transit stop varies widely between bills. 2024 State Legislative Priorities PUBLIC WORKS, TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUE: It is critical to protect all of the State funds that support local transportation projects.The cities cannot do this on their own given the amount of growth and commerce in the region.This includes maintained or increased funding for Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) and Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board (FMSIB) along with state grant programs managed by the WSDOT for local agency projects. • REQUEST: Fund an Implementation Plan for the SR167 Master Plan that was completed in 2023. This was an important frst step in meeting the needs of the underserved communities along the SR167 corridor and the legislature needs to support the next step of creating the implementation plan so that the project envisioned collaboratively in the Master Plan have the potential to be completed and provide the benefit to the region that is needed. • REQUEST: Increase the councilmanic ability to levy sales taxes for infrastructure. • REQUEST: Make changes to appropriate RCWs to allow Municipalities to charge properties for street lighting.Current IRCW 54.16.120 allows Utility Districts to charge properties for providing street lighting, but the law does not allow Municipalities to do this. Current revenues for general fund use cannot meet t-le needs and charging for street lighting would be an appropriate way to address a specific service being provided to residents and businesses within a jurisdiction. • REQUEST: Retain or increase the Public Works Trust Fund amount.The legislature continues to raid this fund to fix structural budget issues and it must stop.The PWTF it is key to providing funding for local agency projects. • REQUEST: Retain and increase the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.This fund is key for local water purveyors to cos effectively fund needed infrastructure projects. • REQUEST:Support allocating 1%of the existing aviation fuel tax to WSDOT's Aviation account to fund airport projects. Current levels of funding cannot meet the growing need to maintain and improve this important infrastructure that provides a significant benefit to commerce and the State's economy. • REQUEST: Support the industry and federal efforts to develop a replacement fuel to 100 Low- Lead for aviation uses that works for all aircraft without adding additional time constraints for Washington State only that will only negatively impact these industries and users within Washington. PARKS AND OPEN SPACES ISSUE: Help cities protect and maintain parks and open spaces • REQUEST: Maintain funding for the Washington Recreation &Conservation Office and Land/Water Conservation Fund so residents have increased access to existing and new public spaces • REQUEST:Support Washington State Historical Society's (WSHS) capital budget request and the Heritage Capital Projects in the 2023-2025 funding biennium which includes the transformation of Auburn's Historic Post office building into an Arts&Culture Center • REQUEST:Support Recreation and Conservation Office(RCO) request for municipal parks deferred maintenance grant funding program in the 2023-25 Operating Budget 2024 State Legislative Priorities SOCIAL SERVICES ISSUE: Cities throughout the State do not have the local resources available to adequately address homelessness,substance abuse disorders and untreated mental illness. • REQUEST: Support greater funding for behavioral health programs and incentivize workers to pursue careers in behavioral health • REQUEST: Support and fund programs that will alleviate the need for police response to quality- of-life issues such as mental distress or illness,substance abuse and persons experiencing homelessness • REQUEST: Make any necessary changes to State laws that prohibit cities from hiring Mental Health Professionals or Designated Crisis Responders. • REQUEST: Provide clarification on the qualified use of Trueblood dollars to ensure the continuum of care in local communities • REQUEST:Support the construction and operation of tiny home villages on state-owned property.These villages are considered permanent supportive housing using a community living concept.The Quixote Communities is proving to be an effective model for bringing people into housed and safe living environments ISSUE:South King County is facing a growing affordable housing crisis.As a member of the South King Housing and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP),we pool funds with other cities to support the production and preservation of affordable housing in South King County, but we need more help. • REQUEST: In order to address this crisis,we need to fund all aspects of affordable housing, including: ■ Homeownership for moderate income households and below ■ Preservation of naturally occurring affordable housing(NOAH) ■ Land acquisition to secure permanent affordability ■ Permanent supportive housing (PSH) ■ Infrastructure around affordable housing developments ■ Workforce housing BUDGET & FINANCE ISSUE:The arbitrary 1% property tax cap is regressive and hinders growth in Washington state.The City of Auburn supports a commonsense reform to this cap. • REQUEST: Revise the cap by tying it to inflation and population growth with a limit of 3% ISSUE:The leasehold excise tax can be interpreted in many ways according to the Department of Revenue and causes confusion within local jurisdictions. • REQUEST: Provide greater clarification on what is considered a benefit and who the beneficiary actually is to ensure equitable application of the law