![Vancouver’s Production Shortfall, a Tax Lawsuit, and a Cooling Ordinance Fight in Spokane [4/15/26]](https://www.hfore.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/spokane-1.png)
Vancouver’s Production Shortfall, a Tax Lawsuit, and a Cooling Ordinance Fight in Spokane [4/15/26]
City City of Vancouver, WA Continues to Fall Short of Housing Production Goals — City Warns Headwinds Are Outside Local Control
(OPB, April 7, 2026)
Vancouver’s 2025 Housing Report reveals the city started 51% fewer residential units last year compared to its six-year historic average. The city needs to build 2,500 units per year. This is needed to keep pace with anticipated population growth under its forthcoming comprehensive plan. However, current production is less than one-third of that target. On average, 536 fewer affordable housing units are built each year than the city needs. Notably, this trend has continued since 2022.
City officials pointed to multiple structural obstacles. Clark County, despite being one of Washington’s five largest metropolitan counties, receives about half the state Housing Trust Fund allocations its population would justify. This is according to Vancouver’s director of economic prosperity and housing, Patrick Quinton. “We are really left trying to figure this out with local money, and the numbers just don’t work,” Quinton said. Remaining buildable sites inside city limits are largely small infill parcels. These come with environmental complications that make them longer and more expensive to develop. In addition, Vancouver Housing Authority CEO Andy Silver said, “The problem is that some of the headwinds that are outside of the city’s control are pretty large at the moment,” specifically, elevated construction costs, tariffs, high interest rates, labor shortages, and rising insurance costs.
The city’s comprehensive plan, due in the coming months, is expected to be its most significant land-use tool for opening new housing production areas over the next two decades. Meanwhile, Vancouver’s population is projected to grow by 81,000 over that period.
Lawsuit Filed Challenging Washington’s New Income Tax as Unconstitutional
(Everett Post / The Center Square, April 10, 2026)
A lawsuit was filed April 9, 2026 in Klickitat Superior Court challenging Washington’s recently enacted graduated income tax. Lead attorneys include former state Attorney General Rob McKenna, a former Democratic state lawmaker, and former Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, representing the Citizen Action Defense Fund.
The legal argument centers on nearly a century of Washington Supreme Court precedent holding that income is property. It also holds that a non-uniform property tax exceeding 1% of value requires a constitutional amendment. The income tax at issue is set at 9.9% and includes a million-dollar exemption. Both of these, plaintiffs argue, fail the state constitution’s uniformity requirement for property taxation. Six prior legislative sessions attempted to impose such a tax through proper constitutional amendment procedures; all were rejected by voters. Even tax advocates expect the plaintiffs to prevail in the trial and appellate courts. As a result, the litigation is likely to proceed to the Washington Supreme Court.
Washington State Task Force Working to Create New Department of Housing
(Washington State Standard, April 13, 2026)
The State of Washington currently operates 221 housing-related programs spread across 30 state agencies. Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, who is part of a task force of elected officials, state agency staff, tribal members, local government advocates, and developers, said the current system is failing. “We’re not doing a very good job at all, because the hole is getting deeper,” Heck said. State Sen. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, agreed the state’s programs are not “excellent.”
The task force is charged with developing recommendations to establish a new, consolidated Washington Department of Housing, with the recommendations due later this year. The goal is to consolidate fragmented housing programs into a single agency with clearer authority and accountability for production outcomes. Gov. Ferguson has set a goal of building 200,000 housing units over the next four years.
Spokane Considers Mandatory Cooling Ordinance for Rental Units; Rental Housing Industry Pushes Back
(KHQ / RHAWA, March–April 2026)
Three Spokane City Council members — Sarah Dixit, Paul Dillon, and Kitty Klitzke — have introduced an ordinance that would require landlords to keep bedroom temperatures below 80 degrees in rental units. Developed with help from the Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water and the Environment and Gonzaga law students, the measure is a direct response to rising heat-related deaths. The June 2021 Northwest Heat Dome, which resulted in 19 fatalities and more than 300 heat-related illness treatments in Spokane County, is cited as a driving factor. Furthermore, the Spokane Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board has unanimously recommended adoption. Under the proposed timeline, existing units would need to comply by 2031. Meanwhile, new units built after 2027 would be exempt, as cooling requirements for new construction will match state law. Tenants would have a legal path to seek judicial relief for violations.
The housing industry’s response has been swift and coordinated. The Rental Housing Association of Washington, joined by eleven co-signers—including the Downtown Spokane Partnership, Washington Multi-Family Housing Association, Spokane Realtors, Kiemle Hagood, BOMA Spokane, Rockwood Property Management, RenCorp Realty, Urban Settlements, and Coldwell Banker Tomlinson—filed a coalition statement to the Council in March 2026. In it, they urged the Council to defer to Engrossed Senate Bill 6200, which has passed both legislative chambers with bipartisan support and been delivered to the governor.
The coalition’s core argument:
The state has already solved this problem. ESB 6200 establishes a statewide framework giving tenants the right to install and use portable cooling devices of their choice—without landlord permission or costly building-wide retrofits. The coalition also raised structural concerns specific to Spokane’s housing stock.
The median construction year for Spokane rental housing is 1961, and approximately 61% of rental units were built before 1980. These older buildings typically lack central ductwork and have electrical panels insufficient to handle an added cooling load. Yet they represent the city’s naturally occurring affordable housing, the private-market inventory that rapid rehousing programs, Housing Choice Voucher placements, and other assistance programs depend on. Rendering a significant portion of this stock non-compliant doesn’t protect vulnerable residents, the coalition argued — it shrinks their options.
The coalition also flagged a fire-safety conflict. Many older units have only a single operable window per bedroom, which serves as the required fire egress. A window-mounted cooling unit in that opening would render the unit non-compliant with fire code, putting landlords in the position of violating one safety requirement in order to satisfy another.
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