OLYMPIA — A bill allowing Snohomish County to redirect as much as $5 million a year into rental assistance and behavioral health facilities is headed to the governor.
On Wednesday, the House unanimously passed Senate Bill 5604 easing restrictions on how local governments can spend revenues from taxes targeted for mental health treatment programs and affordable housing development. The Senate passed the measure 47-0 earlier in the session.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek, chair of the House Finance Committee. “It gives a lot of flexibility and agility to local governments to tackle our behavioral health and homelessness crises.”
The bill deals with two different sales and use taxes collected in cities and counties around the state, including Snohomish County.
One is a one-tenth of a cent sales tax, proceeds from which must be spent on chemical dependency and mental health treatment services. Under the bill, those dollars will soon be able to use the money for repairs and modifications to existing buildings in which programs and services are offered. Snohomish County has collected this tax since 2008.
The other concerns a sliver of the state’s portion of the sales tax, which is credited to counties and cities for developing affordable and supportive housing. Under the bill, those dollars, which can be significant, will be available for use for rental assistance.
In both instances, the bill provides Snohomish County with the same options cities and smaller jurisdictions already have.
“This additional flexibility for Snohomish County means that people who are at risk of falling into homelessness will be able to stay in their home, and we will be able to improve behavioral health facilities,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said in an email.
“As federal pandemic relief funds end, this flexibility with existing local funding will be a significant help,” he continued. “We expect somewhere in the range of $4 million to $5 million of existing funding could now be applied for these purposes each year.”
Mary Jane Brell Vujovic, director of the county Human Service Department, told House and Senate committees the added flexibility with the housing dollars will keep folks from potentially becoming homeless.
“Many households have not recovered economically to the point that they can remain stably housed without additional resources,” she told members of House Local Government Committee last month. Using them for rental assistance, she continued, “would greatly mitigate any anticipated funding cliff and ensure housing stability for a large number of vulnerable households in larger jurisdictions.”
Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, sponsored the bill that will now be sent to Gov. Jay Inslee for his expected signature.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623;
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