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Sedro‑Woolley hears state overview of Multifamily Tax Exemption as option to spur housing
Summary
A Washington Department of Commerce official briefed the council on the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE), explaining eligibility, affordability rules and local implementation steps; council members pressed on tax-shift impacts and administration costs and asked staff to pursue more analysis.
The Sedro‑Woolley City Council on Tuesday heard a 30‑minute presentation from Catherine Mitchell of the Washington State Department of Commerce on the Multifamily Tax Exemption program, a state-authorized property tax relief intended to incentivize multiunit housing development.
MFTE lets cities or counties exempt property taxes on new residential improvements for 8, 12 or 20 years in exchange for meeting minimum housing requirements, Mitchell said. “In the most basic terms, MFTE is a tax relief in exchange for housing production,” she said, adding the statute creating the exemption is RCW 84.14.
The program can be customized by local governments, Mitchell said. Eight‑year exemptions have no state affordability requirements; 12‑year exemptions require at least 20% of units be affordable to households at up to…
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