BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to port districts; and amending RCW 53.36.020 and 53.36.100.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 53.36.020 and 1973 1st ex.s. c 195 s 56 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A port district with a population of less than one million may raise revenue by levy of an annual tax not to exceed forty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value against the assessed valuation of the taxable property in such port district for general port purposes, including the establishment of a capital improvement fund for future capital improvements, except that any levy for the payment of the principal and interest of the general bonded indebtedness of the port district shall be in excess of any levy made by the port district under the forty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value limitation. The levy shall be made and taxes collected in the manner provided for the levy and collection of taxes in school districts of the first class.

(2) A port district with a population of one million or more may impose property tax levies under this section only if a ballot proposition authorizing the imposition of such levies for either one, two, or three years has been approved by a simple majority vote of the port district voters voting on the proposition. However, a port district with a population of one million or more may continue imposing property tax levies under this section without obtaining voter approval, but only to the extent necessary to avoid the impairment of the obligation to make redemption payments on general obligation bonds issued prior to the effective date of this act.

Sec. 2. RCW 53.36.100 and 1982 1st ex.s. c 3 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

A port district having adopted a comprehensive scheme of harbor improvements and industrial developments may thereafter raise revenue, for twelve years only, in addition to all other revenues now authorized by law, by an annual levy not to exceed forty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value against the assessed valuation of the taxable property in such port district. Said levy shall be used exclusively for the exercise of the powers granted to port districts under chapter 53.25 RCW except as provided in RCW 53.36.110. The levy of such taxes is herein authorized notwithstanding the provisions of RCW 84.52.050 and 84.52.043. The revenues derived from levies made under RCW 53.36.100 and 53.36.110 not expended in the year in which the levies are made may be paid into a fund for future use in carrying out the powers granted under chapter 53.25 RCW, which fund may be accumulated and carried over from year to year, with the right to continue to levy the taxes provided for in RCW 53.36.100 and 53.36.110 for the purposes herein authorized.

If a port district with a population of less than one million intends to levy a tax under this section for one or more years after the first six years authorized in this section, the port commission shall publish notice of this intention, in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the district, by June 1 of the year in which the first levy of the seventh through twelfth year period is to be made. If within ninety days of the date of publication a petition is filed with the county auditor containing the signatures of eight percent of the number of voters registered and voting in the port district for the office of the governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election, the county auditor shall canvass the signatures in the same manner as prescribed in RCW 29.79.200 and certify their sufficiency to the port commission within two weeks. The proposition to make these levies in the seventh through twelfth year period shall be submitted to the voters of the port district at a special election, called for this purpose, no later than the date on which a primary election would be held under RCW 29.13.070. The levies may be made in the seventh through twelfth year period only if approved by a majority of the voters of the port district voting on the proposition.

A port district with a population of one million or more may impose a tax levy under this section only if a ballot proposition authorizing the imposition of such a levy is approved by a simple majority vote of the voters of the port district voting on the proposition. The ballot proposition may authorize such a port district to impose a tax levy for either one, two, or three years, out of the maximum number of twelve years. A port district with a population of one million or more that imposed a tax levy under this section for collection in 1993 and that has imposed a levy under this section for less than twelve years may continue imposing tax levies under this section for the remainder of the twelve-year period, but only to the extent necessary to avoid the impairment of the obligation to make redemption payments on general obligation bonds issued before the effective date of this act.