City of Black Diamond forms first Community Facility District in Washington state

Black Diamond, Wash. – December 28, 2011 – The Black Diamond City Council voted last night to approve the formation of the first Community Facilities District (CFD) in Washington State, thereby creating a funding mechanism for developer YarrowBay Holdings to finance the infrastructure necessary to support their approved projects in Black Diamond at the start of development. YarrowBay is moving forward with two master planned communities in Black Diamond.

In 2010, Governor Gregoire signed into law legislation permitting Community Facilities Districts (CFDs), independently governed special purpose districts, formed solely to oversee the financing and/or construction of a specific set of infrastructure improvements submitted by a property owner and approved by the local jurisdiction.

Washington’s legislation requires 100 percent agreement between all property owners in the CFD boundaries, ensuring that the landowner pays for its development and that the financial burden does not fall on the current residents or taxpayers. The sole property owner within the approved CFD’s boundaries is YarrowBay.

“We are excited to form the first ever CFD in Washington and for Black Diamond to model an effective and safe way for our state to achieve smart growth that plans for improvements from the beginning,” said YarrowBay CEO, Brian Ross. “The CFD will provide much-needed infrastructure financing that will create new jobs, improve roads and other public facilities, and ultimately drive economic development in their area.”

In a recent editorial in the Puget Sound Business Journal, State Rep. Christopher Hurst stated, “Our state, county and local governments simply do not have the resources to make these improvements. Because our state had the foresight to allow developers to finance the improvement of infrastructure in advance of a project, we will avoid many of the problems that plague other states.”

The next step for Black Diamond will be to appoint the CFD’s Board of Supervisors. The CFD will be governed by a five member Board made up of three members appointed by the City and two by YarrowBay.

# # #

 Media Contact: Jennifer Sandberg, Nyhus Communications LLC for YarrowBay Holdings (206) 227-9494; jen.sandberg@nyhus.com

Posted on May 19, 2012

Tags: Black Diamond, YarrowBay, infrastructure, CFD, approve