3.78.040 Extension of tax exemption.
A. The owner of property that set aside affordable units in exchange for a tax exemption pursuant to EMC 3.78.030 may apply for an extension for an additional twelve successive years. No extension will be granted for property that received a twenty-year tax exemption pursuant to EMC 3.78.030(C).
B. Only one extension may be granted.
C. For the property to qualify for an extension:
1. The property must have qualified for, satisfied the conditions of, and utilized the eight-year or twelve-year exemption sought to be extended;
2. The owner must timely apply for the extension on forms provided by the city within eighteen months but no later than one month of expiration of the original exemption;
3. The property must meet the requirements of this chapter for the property to qualify for an exemption under EMC 3.78.030(A) or (B) as applicable at the time of the extension application; and
4. The property must provide twenty percent of the units affordable to households whose income is at or below fifty percent of the median household income for Snohomish County, adjusted for household size for the extension period or as set forth in the original contract.
D. If an extension is granted by the city, at the end of both the tenth and eleventh years of a twelve-year extension, the applicant or the property owner at that time must provide tenants of affordable units with notification of the applicant’s or property owner’s intent to provide the tenant with relocation assistance in an amount equal to one month’s rent as provided in RCW 84.14.020, as amended.
E. After the expiration of the extension, the applicant or the property owner must provide tenant relocation assistance in an amount equal to one month’s rent to a qualified tenant within the final month of the qualified tenant’s lease. To be eligible for tenant relocation assistance under this subsection, the tenant must occupy an affordable unit at the time the exemption expires and must qualify as an eligible household under this chapter at the time relocation assistance is provided. (Ord. 3954-23 § 1 (Exh. 1), 2023.)