(1) There is hereby established an account in the state treasury to be known as the state agency parking account. All parking income collected from the fees imposed by state agencies on parking spaces at state-owned or leased facilities, including the capitol campus, shall be deposited in the state agency parking account. Only the office of financial management may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for expenditures. No agency may receive an allotment greater than the amount of revenue deposited into the state agency parking account.
(2) An agency may, as an element of the agency's commute trip reduction program to achieve the goals set forth in RCW 70.94.527, impose parking rental fees at state-owned and leased properties. These fees will be deposited in the state agency parking account. Each agency shall establish a committee to advise the agency director on parking rental fees, taking into account the market rate of comparable, privately owned rental parking in each region. The agency shall solicit representation of the employee population including, but not limited to, management, administrative staff, production workers, and state employee bargaining units. Funds shall be used by agencies to: (a) Support the agencies' commute trip reduction program under RCW 70.94.521 through 70.94.551; (b) support the agencies' parking program; or (c) support the lease or ownership costs for the agencies' parking facilities.
(3) In order to reduce the state's subsidization of employee parking, after July 1997 agencies shall not enter into leases for employee parking in excess of building code requirements, except as authorized by the director of general administration. In situations where there are fewer parking spaces than employees at a worksite, parking must be allocated equitably, with no special preference given to managers.
[1998 c 245 § 46; 1995 c 215 § 3.]