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                                 ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1804

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                                                                            C 262 L 86

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By House Committee on Local Government (originally sponsored by Representative Vander Stoep)

Read first time 2/7/86 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to port districts; amending RCW 53.04.020 and 53.12.020; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 92, Laws of 1911 as last amended by section 1, chapter 157, Laws of 1971 ex. sess. and RCW 53.04.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          At any general election or at any special election which may be called for that purpose, the board of county commissioners of any county in this state may, or on petition of ten percent of the qualified electors of such county based on the total vote cast in the last general county election, shall, by resolution submit to the voters of such county the proposition of creating a port district which ((shall)) may:  (1) Be coextensive with the limits of such county as now or hereafter established; or (2) be under the provisions of section 3 of this 1986 act.  Such petition shall be filed with the county auditor, who shall within fifteen days examine the signatures thereof and certify to the sufficiency or insufficiency thereof, and for such purpose the county auditor shall have access to all registration books in the possession of the officers of any incorporated city or town in such proposed port district.  If such petition be found to be insufficient, it shall be returned to the persons filing the same, who may amend or add names thereto for ten days, when the same shall be returned to the county auditor, who shall have an additional fifteen days to examine the same and attach his certificate thereto.  No person having signed such petition shall be allowed to withdraw his name therefrom after the filing of the same with the county auditor.  Whenever such petition shall be certified to as sufficient, the county auditor shall forthwith transmit the same, together with his certificate of sufficiency attached thereto, to the ((board of county commissioners)) legislative authority of the county, who shall submit such proposition at the next general election or, if such petition so requests, the board of county commissioners shall, at their first meeting after the date of such certificate, by resolution, call a special election to be held not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days from the date of such certificate.  The notice of election shall state the boundaries of the proposed port district and the object of such election.  In submitting the said question to the voters for their approval or rejection, the proposition shall be expressed on said ballot substantially in the following terms:

          "Port of .......... , Yes." (giving the name of the principal seaport city within such proposed port district, or if there be more than one city of the same class within such district, such name as may be determined by the ((board of county commissioners)) legislative authority of the county).

          "Port of .......... , No." (giving the name of the principal seaport city within such port district, or if there be more than one city of the same class within such district, such name as may be determined by the ((board of county commissioners)) legislative authority of the county).

        Sec. 2.  Section 4, chapter 17, Laws of 1959 as last amended by section 2, chapter 51, Laws of 1965 and RCW 53.12.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          In port districts located in a class AA county no person shall be eligible to hold the office of port commissioner unless he is a qualified voter of the district.  In all other port districts except those located in a class AA county the person must be a qualified voter of the commissioner district from which he is elected.

If, pursuant to RCW 29.21.350, a void in candidacy has been declared for a port district, any registered voter of the port district is eligible to file a declaration of candidacy for the office of port commissioner when filing for the office is reopened pursuant to RCW 29.21.360 or 29.21.370.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     When it is desired to create a port district comprising territory less than the entire county and with an assessed valuation of at least one hundred eighty million dollars in other than class A counties, the county commissioners shall, upon petition of ten percent or more of the electors residing within the proposed boundaries of such proposed district based on the total vote at the last general election within such area, submit to the qualified electors residing within such proposed district the proposition of creating such port district.  If at any such election a majority of the votes cast thereon shall be in favor of establishing such port district and the total vote cast upon such question shall equal one-third of the total vote cast at the last preceding general election within such area, such port district shall be established.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Section 3 of this act shall expire on December 31, 1988.

                                                                                                                      Passed the House February 13, 1986.

                                                                                                                                         Speaker of the House.

                                                                                                                          Passed the Senate March 11, 1986.

                                                                                                                                       President of the Senate.