BILL REQ. #:  H-4568.1 

Read first time 02/01/10.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to payments in lieu of taxes for lands owned by the department of fish and wildlife; amending RCW 77.12.203; and creating a new section.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.12.203 and 2005 c 303 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) ((Notwithstanding RCW 84.36.010 or other statutes to the contrary)) If requested by a county under RCW 77.12.201, the director shall pay by April 30th of each year on game lands in each county((, if requested by an election under RCW 77.12.201,)) an amount in lieu of real property taxes ((equal to that amount paid on similar parcels of open space land taxable under chapter 84.34 RCW or the greater of)). The amount paid by the department to the county under this section must be calculated by one of the following two methods as identified by the requesting county:
     (a) Seventy cents per acre of game lands located in the county per year; or
     (b) The amount ((paid)) of payments in lieu of taxes paid to the county by the department in 1984 plus an additional amount for control of noxious weeds equal to that which would be paid if such lands were privately owned. ((This amount))
     (2) Payments under this section shall not be assessed or ((paid)) required on department buildings, structures, facilities, game farms, fish hatcheries, tidelands, or public fishing areas of less than one hundred acres.
     (((2))) (3) "Game lands," as used in this section and RCW 77.12.201, means those tracts one hundred acres or larger owned in fee by the department and used for wildlife habitat and for public recreational purposes. ((All)) However, any lands purchased for wildlife habitat, public access, or recreation purposes with federal funds in the Snake River drainage basin shall be considered game lands regardless of acreage.
     (((3))) (4) This section shall not apply to lands transferred after April 23, 1990, to the department from other state agencies.
     (((4))) (5) The county shall distribute the amount received under this section in lieu of real property taxes to all property taxing districts except the state in appropriate tax code areas the same way it would distribute local property taxes from private property. The county shall distribute the amount received under this section for weed control to the appropriate weed district.
     (6) This section applies to game lands held in fee by the department regardless of the provisions of RCW 84.36.010 or other relevant statutes exempting public ownership for local property taxes.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) Any county electing to receive payments in lieu of taxes under RCW 77.12.201 for the 2010 calendar year calculated at a level equal to the amount paid by similar parcels under the open space classification of chapter 84.34 RCW may continue to receive payments from the department of fish and wildlife at that level for the 2010 payment cycle. However, all such counties must provide additional notification prior to January 1, 2011, to the department of fish and wildlife regarding whether they are still interested in receiving payments under RCW 77.12.201 and identifying which method of payment calculation under RCW 77.12.203, as amended by this act, is preferred.
     (2) Any notifications applicable to the 2011 payment cycle provided to the department of fish and wildlife under RCW 77.12.201 prior to the effective date of this section requesting payments in lieu of taxes calculated at a level equal to the amount paid by similar parcels under the open space classification of chapter 84.34 RCW are void and must be resubmitted by the county in a notice identifying which method of payment calculation under RCW 77.12.203, as amended by this act, is preferred.