ORDINANCE _____________

AN ORDINANCE relating to the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance and amending SMC 22.210.130 to increase from One Thousand Seventy One Dollars ($1071.) to Two Thousand Dollars ($2000.) the total amount of relocation assistance payable to low-income tenants who are displaced by demolition, change of use, substantial rehabilitation, or removal of use restrictions, subject to appropriation of sufficient funds for such purpose by the City.

WHEREAS, The State of Washington has adopted legislation (RCW 59.18.440) authorizing local jurisdictions to pay relocation assistance of up to Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) as adjusted annually by the percentage amount of change in the housing component of the Consumer Price Index to low-income tenants who are displaced from dwelling units by housing demolition, change of use, substantial rehabilitation or removal of use restrictions from assisted housing; and

WHEREAS, in 1990 the Seattle City Council passed the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance authorizing payment of Two Thousand Dollars ($2000) per low income tenant household because the rapid rate of development in the City of Seattle reduced and continues to reduce the supply of rental housing available and affordable to lowand moderate-income tenants; and

WHEREAS, when the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance was passed in 1990, the City Council heard testimony at a public hearing and found that the costs incurred by tenants to relocate within Seattle include actual physical moving costs, advance payments, utility fees, security and damage deposits and anticipated additional rent and utility costs, which, on average, equal or exceed Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) per tenant household; and

WHEREAS, in 1994 the City suspended the requirement that the owner pay half of the Two Thousand Dollars relocation payment in response to a court decision holding the Mobile Home Relocation Assistance Statute unconstitutional, although the City continued to pay its share of $1000 as annually adjusted; and

WHEREAS, in 1997 the City passed Ordinance 118839, reinstating the requirement that the owner pay half of the relocation assistance payment, although the amount was not adjusted upward from the $1000 as adjusted annually that the City had been paying during the suspension; and

WHEREAS, the costs for low-income tenant households to relocate within Seattle have not decreased since 1990 and are likely to have increased above the $2000 it cost in 1990; and

WHEREAS, it is the Council's intent that the amount of relocation assistance to be paid be set at an amount in accordance with State law and consistent with testimony at the public hearing regarding the reasonable costs of relocating a low-income tenant household in the City of Seattle.

NOW THEREFORE,

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Subsection A of Section 22.210.130 of the SMC, which Section was last amended by Ordinance 118839, is amended as follows:

SMC 22.210.130 Relocation assistance payments.

A. Low-income tenants who are displaced by demolition, change of use, substantial rehabilitation, or removal of use restrictions, and who comply with the requirements of this chapter, shall be paid a total relocation assistance payment in the amount of ((One Thousand and Seventy-one)) Two Thousand Dollars ($2000) ((($1,071))) to be paid by the City, subject to appropriation of sufficient funds for such purpose by the City. The amount of relocation assistance shall be adjusted annually by the percentage amount of change in the housing component of the Consumer Price Index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Such adjustments shall be published in a Director's rule.

Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days from and after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten (10) days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.

Passed by the City Council the _____ day of ____________, 1998, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________, 1998.

_____________________________________

President _______ of the City Council

Approved by me this _____ day of _________________, 1998.

___________________________________________

Mayor

Filed by me this _____ day of ____________________, 1998.

___________________________________________

City Clerk

(Seal)

SMW:smw

November 12, 1998 TRAO5.doc (Ver. 1 )