SENATE BILL REPORT
SSB 5638
As Passed Senate, March 13, 2001
Title: An act relating to county treasurer technical corrections.
Brief Description: Making technical corrections to county treasurer statutes.
Sponsors: Senate Committee on State & Local Government (originally sponsored by Senators Gardner, Swecker and Snyder).
Brief History:
Committee Activity: State & Local Government: 2/12/01, 2/26/01 [DPS].
Passed Senate: 3/13/01, 49-0.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Majority Report: That Substitute Senate Bill No. 5638 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.
Signed by Senators Patterson, Chair; Fairley, Vice Chair; Gardner, Hale, Haugen, Horn, Kline, McCaslin, Roach, T. Sheldon and Swecker.
Staff: Diane Smith (786‑7410)
Background: The county treasurer has many duties specifically governed by statute. These duties include collecting and depositing various monies from diverse sources, at particular times. Over the years, best management practices evolve and become divergent from earlier statutory requirements. Some matters become unclear or inconsistent.
When part of a county road district is annexed by a city or town, any road district taxes levied but not yet collected are collected by the county treasurer and paid to the city or town street fund.
Counties may negotiate the sale of real property the county acquires from tax foreclosure sales, if the negotiated sale occurs within six months of the foreclosure.
If real property is valued at less than $500, it is removed from the tax rolls and incurs no tax liability.
The county treasurer collects deferred property taxes and remits them to the Department of Revenue.
Summary of Bill: County road district taxes that were levied before annexation by a code city are paid to the county road fund when they are collected.
The county treasurer collects deferred taxes from the senior citizen deferral program if the state Department of Revenue is unable to collect them. Both deposit the collections directly into the state general fund.
Property valued under $500 is restored to the tax rolls.
The county is given 12 months after foreclosure to negotiate a sale of the real property.
Other matters are clarified and made consistent.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: This bill streamlines and clarifies the statutes so county treasurers can better perform their duties. Small taxing districts (example: weed districts) lose significant revenue without very small properties being returned to the tax rolls.
Testimony Against: None.
Testified: Philip Sanders, King County Treasury Division; Rose Bowman, L.C. Treasurer (pro).
House Amendment(s): The House amendment provides that only county road taxes that were delinquent as of annexation of the county road district by a city, code city or town shall be paid into the county road fund.
Technical revisions are made to the provisions concerning the disposition of property when special purpose districts are dissolved.
The House amendment eliminates from the substitute Senate bill the inclusion of boundary line adjustments in the definition of ?subdivision@ for purposes of paying advance tax deposits on subdivisions. The House amendment reverts back to existing law which exempts property valued under $500 from being counted in the tax rolls; these properties remain exempt from property taxation.