♪♪
King County
Charter Amendment Number 2,
Disposition of Real Property
for Affordable Housing.
Currently, the charter
does not allow certain
metropolitan functions
of the county to transfer,
lease, or sell real property
for less than fair market value
when the property will be used
for affordable housing.
State law and county code
do allow the county to convey
other county property
for less than fair market value
if the property is to be used
for affordable housing.
If adopted,
Charter Amendment Number 2
would allow the county
to transfer, lease, or sell
real property for less
than fair market value
when the property will be used
for affordable housing.
Hello and greetings,
King County voters.
My name is
Patience Malaba
and I am the director
of Government Relations
and Policy at the
Housing Development Consortium
of Seattle, King County.
In 2019, the county's
Regional Affordable Housing
Task Force reported
we need an additional
244,000 housing units by 2040
to meet our region's needs.
The Task Force report
also called for expanding
coordinated efforts
to identify, acquire,
and develop property
for affordable housing.
Making government owned
surplus property available
at an affordable price
will encourage efforts
across multiple county agencies
and help achieve
the housing goal.
King County owns
a significant amount
of surplus property.
The state legislature
recently changed state law
so these properties
can be made available
at a lower price
for affordable housing.
Old language in
the county charter
is now inconsistent
with the amended state law
and requires sale
at higher prices.
The change proposed
by this amendment
will allow the sale
of surplus property
at a lower price
when it is to be used
for affordable housing.
This simple modification
makes the county charter
consistent with
revised state law.
Thank you for voting
to amend the county charter
and making it easier
to build affordable housing
on surplus county property.