3.78.020 Definitions.
“Affordable housing” means residential housing that is rented by a person or household whose monthly housing costs, including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed thirty percent of the household’s monthly income. For the purposes of housing intended for owner occupancy, “affordable housing” means residential housing that is within the means of low- or moderate-income households.
“Area median income” means the annual median family income for Snohomish County, as published from time to time by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), with adjustments according to household size, which adjustments shall generally be based upon a method used by HUD to adjust income limits for subsidized housing, which for purposes of determining affordability or rents or sale prices shall be based on the average size of household that corresponds to the size and type of the housing unit.
“Contract” means the standard form agreement between the owner or, for permanently affordable homeownership, a qualified nonprofit organization and the city that contains the terms and conditions, including for each multifamily tax exempt unit as designated according to the final certificate, for the duration of the compliance period as a condition of eligibility of the property tax exemption according to this chapter.
“Household” means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together.
“Local housing standard” means the International Property Maintenance Code as adopted by the city of Everett.
“Low-income housing” means housing where monthly costs, including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed thirty percent of the resident’s household monthly income and where household monthly income must be eighty percent or less of the Snohomish County median family income adjusted for family size as reported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“MFTE” means multifamily housing property tax exemption.
“Moderate-income household” means a single person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is more than eighty percent but is at or below one hundred fifteen percent of the area median income adjusted for family size for the metropolitan statistical area where the project is located, as reported by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Multifamily housing” and “multiple-unit housing” are used synonymously in this chapter and mean a building having the number of dwelling units specified in EMC 3.78.050 that are not designed or used as transient accommodations, not including hotels and motels, and designed for permanent residential occupancy resulting from new construction, rehabilitation or conversion of a vacant, underutilized or substandard building to multifamily housing.
“Nonprofit entities” shall mean:
1. Nonprofit as defined by state law that is exempt from income tax under Section 501(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
2. Limited partnership or limited liability limited partnership where a nonprofit that is exempt from income tax under Section 501(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, a public corporation established under RCW 35.21.660, 35.21.670, or 35.21.730, a housing authority created under RCW 35.82.030 or 35.82.300, or a housing authority meeting the definition in RCW 35.82.210(2)(a) is a general partner or the sole member of the general partner; or
3. Limited liability company where a nonprofit that is exempt from income tax under Section 501(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, a public corporation established under RCW 35.21.660, 35.21.670, or 35.21.730, a housing authority established under RCW 35.82.030 or 35.82.300, or a housing authority meeting the definition in RCW 35.82.210(2)(a) is a managing member or the sole member of the general partner.
“Owner” means the property owner of record.
“Permament residential occupancy” means multifamily housing that provides either owner or rental occupancy for a period of at least one month on a nontransient basis. This excludes accommodations that offer occupancy on a transient basis such as hotels and motels that predominately offer rental accommodations on a daily or weekly basis.
“Planning director” means the planning director for the city or authorized designee.
“Project” means the multifamily housing or portion of the multifamily housing that is to receive the tax exemption.
“Rehabilitation improvements” means modifications to existing structures that are vacant for twelve months or longer at the time of application that are made to achieve a condition of substantial compliance with existing building codes or modification to existing occupied structures which increase the number of multifamily housing units.
“Residential targeted area” means the areas within or coterminous with the city’s urban center as defined in this chapter that have been designated by the city council as the residential targeted area in accordance with this chapter and Chapter 84.14 RCW as found by the city council to be lacking sufficient available, convenient, attractive, livable, and desirable residential housing to meet the needs of the public.
“Substantial compliance” means compliance with the applicable building and construction codes and all applicable uniform codes that are typically required for rehabilitation as opposed to new construction.
“Urban center” means a compact identifiable district where urban residents may obtain a variety of products and services including, but not limited to, shops, offices, banks, restaurants, governmental agencies, transit service, and a mixture of uses and activities that may include housing, recreation, cultural activities, commercial or office uses. (Ord. 3954-23 § 1 (Exh. 1), 2023; Ord. 3635-18 § 2, 2018.)