Senate Bill 6149 — Relating to the definition of "rural county" (State of Washington, 69th Legislature)

Summary

Senate Bill 6149 of the 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session, State of Washington, is by Senators J. Wilson, Dozier, Short, and Chapman. The act relates to the definition of "rural county" for purposes of public facilities funding and amends RCW 82.14.370 and reenacts and amends RCW 43.160.020. Section 1 reenacts the definitions for the community economic revitalization board, including a frontier county as a county with a population density of fewer than 50 persons per square mile. The RCW 82.14.370 text defines a rural county as a county with a population density of less than 100 persons per square mile, among other tests.

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     S-3606.1

                               SENATE BILL 6149


     State of Washington       69th Legislature          2026 Regular Session

     By Senators J. Wilson, Dozier, Short, and Chapman




 1       AN ACT Relating to the definition of "rural county" for purposes
 2   of public facilities funding; amending RCW 82.14.370; and reenacting
 3   and amending RCW 43.160.020.


 4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:


 5       Sec. 1. RCW 43.160.020 and 2024 c 86 s 2 and 2024 c 47 s 1 are
 6   each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
 7       Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
 8   this section apply throughout this chapter.
 9       (1) "Board" means the community economic revitalization board.
10       (2) "Broadband" means a network of deployed telecommunications
11   equipment and technologies necessary to provide high-speed internet
12   access and other advanced telecommunications services.
13       (3) "Department" means the department of commerce.
14       (4) "Frontier county" means a county with a population density of
15   fewer than 50 persons per square mile as determined by the office of
16   financial management and published each year by the department. A
17   county with a population density of 21 or fewer persons per square
18   mile is a "frontier one" county. A county with a population density
19   of more than 21 but fewer than 50 persons per square mile is a
20   "frontier two" county. Every frontier county is also a rural county
21   under this chapter and eligible for all benefits, services, and
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 1   programs of a rural county unless a frontier county is specifically
 2   excluded in the authorizing statute.
 3       (5) "Local government" or "political subdivision" means any port
 4   district, county, city, town, special purpose district, and any other
 5   municipal corporations or quasi-municipal corporations in the state
 6   providing for public facilities under this chapter.
 7       (6) "Public facilities" means a project of a local government or
 8   a federally recognized Indian tribe for the planning, acquisition,
 9   construction, repair, reconstruction, replacement, rehabilitation, or
10   improvement of: Bridges; roads; research, testing, training, and
11   incubation facilities in areas designated as innovation partnership
12   zones under RCW 43.330.270; buildings or structures; domestic and
13   industrial water, earth stabilization, sanitary sewer, storm sewer,
14   railroad, electricity, telecommunications, transportation, natural
15   gas, and port facilities; all for the purpose of job creation, job
16   retention, or job expansion.
17       (7) "Rural county" means ((a)) any of the following, as
18   determined by the office of financial management and published each
19   year by the department for the period July 1st to June 30th: (a) A
20   county with a population density of fewer than 100 persons per square
21   mile ((or)); (b) a county with a population density of 100 persons
22   per square mile or greater, with no city with a population greater
23   than 75,000 persons; or (c) a county smaller than 225 square miles((,
24   as determined by the office of financial management and published
25   each year by the department for the period July 1st to June 30th)).


26       Sec. 2. RCW 82.14.370 and 2024 c 58 s 1 are each amended to read
27   as follows:
28       (1) The legislative authority of a rural county may impose a
29   sales and use tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The
30   tax is in addition to other taxes authorized by law and must be
31   collected from those persons who are taxable by the state under
32   chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW upon the occurrence of any taxable event
33   within the county. The rate of tax may not exceed 0.09 percent of the
34   selling price in the case of a sales tax or value of the article used
35   in the case of a use tax, except that for rural counties with
36   population densities between 60 and 100 persons per square mile, the
37   rate shall not exceed 0.04 percent before January 1, 2000.
38       (2) The tax imposed under subsection (1) of this section must be
39   deducted from the amount of tax otherwise required to be collected or
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 1   paid over to the department of revenue under chapter 82.08 or 82.12
 2   RCW. The department of revenue must perform the collection of such
 3   taxes on behalf of the county at no cost to the county.
 4       (3)(a) Moneys collected under this section may only be used to:
 5       (i) Finance public facilities serving economic development
 6   purposes in rural counties;
 7       (ii) Finance the construction of affordable workforce housing
 8   infrastructure or facilities; and
 9       (iii) Finance personnel in economic development offices.
10       (b) The public facility must be listed as an item in the
11   officially adopted county overall economic development plan, or the
12   economic development section of the county's comprehensive plan, or
13   the comprehensive plan of a city or town located within the county
14   for those counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040, or provide
15   affordable workforce housing infrastructure or facilities. For those
16   counties that do not have an adopted overall economic development
17   plan and do not plan under the growth management act, the public
18   facility must be listed in the county's capital facilities plan or
19   the capital facilities plan of a city or town located within the
20   county, or provide affordable workforce housing infrastructure or
21   facilities.
22       (c) In implementing this section, the county must consult with
23   cities, towns, and port districts located within the county and the
24   associate development organization serving the county to ensure that
25   the expenditure of money collected under this section meets the goals
26   of creating, attracting, expanding, and retaining businesses,
27   providing family-wage jobs, and providing affordable workforce
28   housing infrastructure or facilities and the use of money collected
29   under this section meets the requirements of (a) and (b) of this
30   subsection. Each county collecting money under this section must
31   provide a report to the office of the state auditor within 150 days
32   after the close of each fiscal year identifying in detail each new
33   and continuing public facility project, economic development purpose
34   project, affordable workforce housing infrastructure or facilities
35   project, economic development staff position, and qualifying provider
36   project funded with the tax authorized under this section and the
37   amount of tax proceeds allocated to such project or position in the
38   prior fiscal year. Any projects financed prior to June 10, 2004, from
39   the proceeds of obligations to which the tax imposed under subsection
40   (1) of this section has been pledged may not be deemed to be new
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 1   projects under this subsection. No new projects funded with money
 2   collected under this section may be for justice system facilities.
 3       (4) The definitions in this section apply throughout this
 4   section.
 5       (a) "Public facilities" means bridges, roads, domestic and
 6   industrial water facilities, sanitary sewer facilities, earth
 7   stabilization,   storm   sewer   facilities,   railroads,   electrical
 8   facilities, natural gas facilities, research, testing, training, and
 9   incubation facilities in innovation partnership zones designated
10   under RCW 43.330.270, buildings, structures, telecommunications
11   infrastructure,   transportation    infrastructure,    or   commercial
12   infrastructure, or port facilities in the state of Washington.
13       (b) "Economic development purposes" means those purposes which
14   facilitate the creation or retention of businesses and jobs in a
15   county, including affordable workforce housing infrastructure or
16   facilities.
17       (c) "Economic development office" means an office of a county,
18   port districts, or an associate development organization as defined
19   in RCW 43.330.010, which promotes economic development purposes
20   within the county.
21       (d) "Affordable workforce housing infrastructure or facilities"
22   means housing infrastructure, facilities, or land that a qualifying
23   provider owns or uses for housing for single persons, families, or
24   unrelated persons living together whose income is no more than 120
25   percent of the median income, adjusted for housing size, for the
26   county where the housing is located.
27       (e) "Qualifying provider" means a nonprofit entity as defined in
28   RCW   84.36.560,   a  nonprofit   entity  or   qualified  cooperative
29   association as defined in RCW 84.36.049, a housing authority created
30   under RCW 35.82.030 or 35.82.300, a public corporation established
31   under RCW 35.21.660 or 35.21.730, or a county or municipal
32   corporation.
33       (5) No tax may be collected under this section before July 1,
34   1998.
35       (a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, no tax may be
36   collected under this section by a county more than 25 years after the
37   date that a tax is first imposed under this section.
38       (b) For counties imposing the tax before August 1, 2009, and
39   meeting the definition of a rural county as of August 1, 2009, the
40   tax expires December 31, 2054.
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 1       (6) By December 31, 2024, the state auditor must provide a
 2   publicly accessible report on its website containing the project
 3   information and other expenditure information included in the annual
 4   report required under subsection (3)(c) of this section for each
 5   county. The publicly accessible report must also include the total
 6   amount of revenue collected by the county under this section in the
 7   prior fiscal year. The state auditor must develop a standardized
 8   expenditure report for the project information and other expenditure
 9   information included in the annual report submitted by counties. This
10   subsection applies to reports filed beginning in 2024 based on 2023
11   expenditures and thereafter.
12       (7) For purposes of this section, "rural county" means ((a)) any
13   of the following, as determined by the office of financial management
14   pursuant to RCW 43.62.035: (a) A county with a population density of
15   less than 100 persons per square mile ((or)); (b) a county with a
16   population density of 100 persons per square mile or greater, with no
17   city, as defined in RCW 36.70A.030, with a population greater than
18   75,000 persons; or (c) a county smaller than 225 square miles ((as
19   determined by the office of financial management pursuant to RCW
20   43.62.035)).

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