Washington § 82.96.070 - Special local renewable energy excise tax. (Effective January 1, 2028.)

(1)(a) Subject to the conditions in (b) of this subsection, beginning January 1, 2031, the legislative authority of a county may impose a special local renewable energy excise tax if a qualified renewable energy facility or a battery electric storage system is located in:

(i) A local taxing district within the county that imposes an excess levy as authorized pursuant to RCW 84.52.052; or

(ii) A school district that imposes a levy as authorized pursuant to RCW 84.52.053 or 84.52.0531 after January 1, 2028.

(b) The legislative authority of a county may only impose the special local renewable energy excise tax in (a) of this subsection as follows:

(i) If the local taxing district levy is a new levy that was not previously part of the county property tax levy within the previous 10 years, the full value of the new levy may be used in the calculation of the excess levy increment in subsection (2) of this section; or

(ii) If the local taxing district levy or school district levy is a replacement levy for a levy that was part of the county property tax levy at the time of the passage of the replacement levy, or was part of the county property tax levy within the 10 years prior to the passage of the replacement levy, only the increase, if any, levy amount between the existing levy may be used in the calculation of the excess levy increment calculated in subsection (2) of this section.

(2)(a) The applicable local renewable energy excise tax rate established in RCW 82.96.050 must be multiplied by the excess levy increment as provided in this subsection to determine the special local renewable energy excise tax rate.

(b) The rate of the excess levy increment is calculated by dividing the sum of the applicable excess levy amount in dollars by the county and junior taxing district property levy amounts in dollars. This is the excess levy increment unless:

(i) The excess levy increment exceeds five percent and there is only a single excess levy, in which case five percent must be used in the calculation of the special local renewable energy excise tax under this section; or

(ii) Multiple taxing districts impose excess levies, in which case the excess levy increment for all the multiple taxing districts must be combined and may not exceed 10 percent in total.

(c) If a junior taxing district imposing an excess levy is located in more than one county, the calculation in (b) of this subsection must be adjusted by reducing the junior taxing district's regular and excess levies to reflect only the pro rata portion of the junior taxing district regular and excess levies that are located in the county imposing the special local renewable energy excise tax.

(3) The special local renewable energy excise tax rate may be adjusted annually to accommodate new and expiring excess levies and expires at the same time as the corresponding levy.

(4) The special local renewable energy excise tax must be paid at the same time as the local renewable energy excise tax imposed pursuant to RCW 36.29.220.

(5) The proceeds of the special local renewable energy excise tax must be distributed to the taxing districts that are imposing the excess levy. If there are multiple excess levies and the excess levy increment is capped pursuant to subsection (2)(b)(ii) of this section, the distributions must be as follows:

(a) For excess levies authorized at different times, the priority in distributions shall go in order of authorization from first to last; or

(b) For all other instances, the legislative authority of the county must determine the distribution of the special local renewable energy excise tax proceeds.

Intent—2026 c 260: See note following RCW 43.63A.770.

Tax preference performance statement exemption—Automatic expiration date exemption—2026 c 260: See note following RCW 82.96.040.

Effective date—2026 c 260: See note following RCW 82.96.005.