Except as otherwise provided in State law, in letting all contracts for public works and improvements, the contracting department or division shall provide therein that there shall be reserved from the moneys earned by the contractor on estimates during the progress of the improvement work a sum not to exceed 5 percent as a trust fund for the protection and payment of any person or persons, mechanics, subcontractors or material men who shall perform any labor upon said contract for the doing of said work, and all persons who shall supply such person or persons or subcontractors with provisions and supplies for the carrying on of such work, and for the State with respect to taxes imposed pursuant to Titles 50, 51, and 82 RCW, which may be due from such contractor. Said fund shall be retained for a period of 45 days following the final acceptance of said improvement or work as completed, and every person performing labor and furnishing provisions and supplies toward the completion of said improvement or work shall have a lien upon said funds so reserved; provided that, notice of the lien of such claimant shall be given in the manner and within the time provided by law. No improvement or work shall be deemed accepted as completed until the City Manager, or his or her designee, for the General Government or the Director of Utilities, or his or her designee, for the Department of Public Utilities shall have signed and filed with the City Clerk a statement declaring the same to be completed.
During the time allowed in the contract for the completion thereof, the engineer or other officer of the department/division having said improvement or work in his or her charge, may, on a monthly basis, issue an estimate of the amount of work completed during the preceding month by the contractor, and after the expiration of the time allowed by the contract for the completion thereof, no estimate other than the final estimate shall be issued. To the extent chargeable against the contractor, all costs incurred or expenditures made by the City for abstract, advertising, accounting collection, as well as engineering or other necessary expenses, shall be computed or estimated by the department/division having the completion of the contract in its charge, and the same shall be deducted from the final payment due a contractor on any public improvement. Said computation or estimate shall be subject to review and audit by the Director of Finance and, upon his or her request, shall be filed with the Finance Department. All expenses incurred by the City after time allowed by the contract for the completion thereof shall be borne by the contractor as penalty for failure to complete the contract within the time specified.
(Ord. 10918 § 1, 1933-03-13; Ord. 15041, 1954-06-21; Ord. 17413 § 1, 1963-08-13; Ord. 20015 § 1, 1973-12-18; Ord. 27847 Ex. A, 2009-11-17)
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Note: See RCW 60.28.010 for statute.
The Director of Finance shall, on or about the first day of the month following the issuance of the estimate, prepare and issue warrants in an amount equal to such estimate, less the percentage to be retained therefrom as herein provided and less any costs or expenses due the City. Said warrants may be sold by the City in the manner provided by law and such estimate shall be paid from the proceeds of such sale or said progress warrants shall be delivered to the contractor in payment of such estimate. After the expiration of 30 days following the final acceptance of the improvement or work and the expiration of the time for filing of lien claims as provided by law, said reserve, or all amounts thereof in excess of a sufficient sum to meet and discharge the claims filed against the same, together with a sum sufficient to defray the costs of action thereon and to pay attorneys fees, shall be paid to said contractor.
Such warrants shall be drawn against the local improvement district fund under which the improvement or work is being done and shall bear interest from the date of issuance until redeemed, but such warrants shall not bear interest beyond a date 120 days after the time fixed in the contract for the completion thereof. Such warrants shall bear interest at the same rate of interest as the ordinance creating the local improvement district shall specify as the rate of interest to be borne by the bonds to be issued against such district unless a different rate of interest be specified by ordinance, but, in no event, shall such warrants bear interest in excess of eight percent per annum.
If, by reason of the failure of the contractor to complete the work within the time specified, no funds are available for the redemption of said warrants on the date on which interest thereon ceases, the contractor, his successors or assigns, or the holder of such warrants, shall have no claim for further interest; provided, however, that if, prior to the filing of the assessment roll, additional time is granted by the City Council for the completion of the contract by reason of delay caused by the City, the holder of said warrants shall be allowed a sum of money without interest, representing interest at the specified rate on outstanding warrants from the date when the interest on such warrants ceased to the date when funds are available for redemption thereof, but such amount shall not exceed a sum equivalent to interest on such outstanding warrants for the period for which such extension of time was granted.
(Ord. 10918 § 2, 1933-03-13; Ord. 13767 § 1, 1949-12-14)
The Director of Finance shall, immediately upon receipt from the director of the department having said improvement or work in charge, of the final estimate for any local improvement, file with such department and with the City Clerk a certificate setting forth the total amount of such final estimate, together with interest accrued, interest on warrants issued, or to be issued, to the contractor.
All warrants issued shall be redeemed within 120 days after the completion and acceptance of the contract, in order of priority, in cash so far as payment into the local improvement district fund shall permit. The amount of such warrants not redeemed in cash shall be redeemed in the order of their priority in local improvement district bonds of the local improvement district under which the improvement or work is being done.
(Ord. 10918 § 3, 1933-03-13)