Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
(1) In order to aid the financing of public
works projects, the board may:
(a) Make loans
or grants to local governments from the public works assistance account or
other funds and accounts for the purpose of assisting local governments in
financing public works projects. Money received from local governments in
repayment of loans made under this section shall be paid into the public works
assistance account for uses consistent with this chapter.
(b) Pledge money in the public works
assistance account, or money to be received by the public works assistance
account, to the repayment of all or a portion of the principal of or interest
on obligations issued by local governments to finance public works projects.
The board shall not pledge any amount greater than the sum of money in the
public works assistance account plus money to be received from the payment of
the debt service on loans made from that account, nor shall the board pledge
the faith and credit or the taxing power of the state or any agency or
subdivision thereof to the repayment of obligations issued by any local
government.
(c) Create such
subaccounts in the public works assistance account as the board deems necessary
to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(d) Provide a method for the allocation of
loans, grants, and financing guarantees and the provision of technical
assistance under this chapter.
(2) When establishing interest rates for loan
programs authorized in this chapter for projects which are supported by a rate
base of at least fifty thousand equivalent residential units, the board must
base interest rates on the average daily market interest rate for tax-exempt
municipal bonds as published in the bond buyer's index for the period from
sixty to thirty days before the start of the application cycle.
(a) For projects with a repayment period over
five and twenty years, the rate must be fifty percent of the market
rate.
(b) For projects with a
repayment period of five and under years, the rate must be twenty-five percent
of the market rate.
(c) For any
year in which the average daily market interest rate for tax-exempt municipal
bonds for the period from sixty to thirty days before the start of an
application cycle is nine percent or greater, the board may cap interest rates
at four percent for projects with a repayment period between five and twenty
years and at two percent for projects with a repayment period under five
years.
(d) The board may also
provide reduced interest rates, extended repayment periods, or grants for
projects that meet financial hardship criteria as measured by the affordability
index or similar standard measure of financial hardship. The board may provide
reduced interest rates, extended repayment periods, or grants for projects that
are supported by a rate base of less than fifty thousand equivalent residential
units.
(3) All local
public works projects aided in whole or in part under the provisions of this
chapter shall be put out for competitive bids, except for emergency public
works under
RCW
43.155.065 for which the recipient
jurisdiction shall comply with this requirement to the extent feasible and
practicable. The competitive bids called for shall be administered in the same
manner as all other public works projects put out for competitive bidding by
the local governmental entity aided under this chapter.
