Regional Housing Council endorses reintroduction of Affordable Homes Act, will send letter to delegation

The Thurston County Regional Housing Council voted unanimously Jan. 22 to approve a letter encouraging the reintroduction of the Affordable Homes Act and authorized sending the letter to Representative Doleo, Senator Bateman and Lisa (last name as recorded in packet: Partially).

Jacinda Stelches of the City of Olympia summarized the proposal and the rationale. She said the Affordable Homes Act — introduced in the prior session but not advanced — would create a permanent funding source for the Washington State Housing Trust Fund by increasing the real-estate excise/transfer tax. Stelches told the council the trust fund is a highly competitive statewide program that subsidizes affordable-homeownership and multifamily rental projects; local projects often depend on state awards to proceed.

Stelches and county participants cited recent statewide demand: in one year home-ownership projects requested about $93 million while only $39 million was available; on the multifamily side, requests reached roughly $456 million with $274 million awarded (figures cited from packet materials). In the most recent funding round presented to the council, home-ownership requests again totaled about $93 million with just $17 million available, and multifamily requests were about $335 million with $85 million awarded. The council heard that these shortfalls leave some projects ready to build but unable to proceed because of missing state financing.

Emily Clouse, Thurston County commissioner for District 5, noted packet estimates that a 1-percentage-point increase in the real-estate transfer tax would have generated approximately $125 million in the 2025–26 biennium and $250 million in 2027–28. Clouse said county leadership reviewed the proposal and offered support.

Council discussion included a suggestion from Dani Mitrell, Olympia city councilmember, to address the letter to both chambers of the state legislature. Members agreed and the final motion authorized sending the letter to Representative Doleo, Senator Bateman and Lisa Partially. The motion carried unanimously.

Why it matters: Local affordable-housing projects — including recent local applicants such as Lehigh’s Fronts Anderson permanent supportive housing (70 units) and TWG’s 228 Olympia (84 units) — rely on state housing trust fund dollars. Council members said establishing a predictable state funding source would increase the number of projects able to start construction.

Next steps: The RHC authorized the letter; staff will send the finalized letter to the named legislators and continue coordinating with local housing partners advocating for the bill’s reintroduction.

Note on names and packet materials: The committee discussed the packet’s background materials and recommended the letter be addressed to multiple members of the legislative delegation. The transcript includes the packet-derived financial figures cited above; packet materials were referenced during the presentation.