Initiative Measure 91
AN ORDINANCE to Prohibit the City of Seattle from Providing or
Leasing Facilities or other Goods, Services, or Real Property to
Professional Sports Organizations at Below Fair Value, and Providing
A Method to Enforce this Restriction
Whereas, from time to time, the City of Seattle may lease or
otherwise provide facilities or services to for-profit professional
sports organizations and,
Whereas, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington has
determined that such provision of facilities or other goods or
services by a jurisdiction of the State of Washington may be for
consideration of any value provided that such value be agreed to by
an appropriate legislative authority, and the terms of such are not
subject to judicial review; and,
Whereas, the City of Seattle in the past has experienced a
return below fair value for some goods or services it has provided or
leased to professional sports teams; and,
Whereas, the Charter of the City of Seattle expressly reserves
legislative authority for the City of Seattle to the People of the
City of Seattle;
Now, Therefore, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS
FOLLOWS:
A new provision of the Seattle Municipal Code is added to read as
follows:
Sec. 1. Consideration for the value of goods, services, real
property or facilities provided or leased by the City of Seattle to
for-profit professional sports organizations or to any other public
entity, or non-profit organization, which may in turn provide such
goods, services, real property or facilities to a for-profit
professional sports organization, must be at or above the fair value
of the goods, services, real property or facility being provided or
leased.
Sec. 2. Fair value is defined herein as no less than the rate
of return on a U.S. Treasury Bond of thirty years duration at the
time of inception of any such provision of goods or services, real
property or lease; and further, such return shall be computed as the
net cash on cash return, after interest and any financing costs, on
the depreciated value of the cash investment of the City of Seattle
in such goods, services, real property or facility, and shall exclude
all intangible, indirect, non-cash items such as goodwill, cultural
or general economic benefit to the City, and shall also exclude
unsecured future cash revenues.
Sec. 3. Nothing in this resolution shall prevent the leasing
or providing of goods, services, real property or facilities to not-
for-profit organizations, other than as limited by Section 1 above,
for the direct benefit of the health, welfare, or safety of the
people of the City of Seattle.
Sec. 4. Notwithstanding any of the language contained in
sections 1 through 3 of this initiative, nothing in this resolution
shall be interpreted or applied so as to limit or restrict any
Washington State legislative or constitutional grant of power to the
legislative authority or other officer of the City of Seattle, and
the reach of this initiative is expressly circumscribed and limited
by any such legislative or constitutional grant of power.
Sec. 5. Any resident of the City of Seattle shall, by virtue
of his/her status as a taxpayer in the City, have legal standing to
challenge, in King County Superior Court, any act, lease, ordinance,
or resolution taken, entered into, or enacted by the City of Seattle
which allegedly violates this initiative, within ninety (90) days of
such act, lease, ordinance or resolution; such a resident shall be
entitled to injunctive relief preventing said act, lease, ordinance,
or resolution from becoming effective, without the necessity of any
bond being posted, so long as the elements necessary to obtain
injunctive relief pursuant to RCW 7.40.020 are established to the
satisfaction of the Court.
Sec. 6. If any provision of this act or its application to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or
the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances
shall not be affected.
Init91.htm
rev. 5/24/06