CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the regulation of short-term rental businesses; amending Sections 6.600.030 and 6.600.040 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, on December 11, 2017, the City Council passed Ordinance 125490, to define and add licensing standards for short-term rental uses; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 125490 limits the number of properties a short-term rental operator can offer for short-term rental use to conserve limited housing resources by reducing opportunities to convert long-term housing units to short-term rentals; and
WHEREAS, on March 23, 2018, the Governor signed House Bill (HB) 2015, modifying the lodging excise tax under RCW 36.100.040 to remove the exemption for premises with fewer than 60 lodging units and to impose the tax on short-term rentals; and
WHEREAS, HB 2015 requires that a public facilities district within a county with a population of 1,500,000 or more must make quarterly payments to a city in which a convention and trade center is located from tax revenue from short-term rentals collected by a public facilities district; and
WHEREAS, as a result of HB 2015, the public facilities district that operates the Washington State Convention Center will impose the lodging tax under RCW 36.100.040 on short-term rentals in Seattle; and
WHEREAS, HB 2015 requires that the payments made to a city must be used to support community-initiated equitable development and affordable housing programs, as determined by the city in its sole discretion; and
WHEREAS, allowing all short-term rental operators who offered units for short-term rental uses prior to September 30, 2017 to continue to operate those units provides more certainty that the revenue projections for the short-term rental tax will be realized and sufficient to support proposed expenditures in 2019 and 2020; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 6.6...
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