H-2289              _______________________________________________

                                           SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 187

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By House Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Representatives Madsen, Sommers and Walk)

Read first time 3/8/85 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to state-authorized improvements to state highways by counties and service districts; amending RCW 36.83.010 and 36.88.010; adding a new section to chapter 36.75 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 47.05 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 36.75 RCW to read as follows:

          A county pursuant to chapter 36.88 RCW, or a service district as provided for in chapter 36.83 RCW, may, with the approval of the state department of transportation, improve or fund the improvement of any state highway within its boundaries.  The county may fund improvements under this section by any means authorized by law, but may not make any expenditure for the purposes of this section from a county road fund under chapter 36.82 RCW.  Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of a county to fund cooperative improvement and maintenance agreements with the department of transportation, authorized by RCW 36.75.030 or 47.28.140.

        Sec. 2.  Section 1, chapter 130, Laws of 1983 and RCW 36.83.010 are each amended to read as follows:

          The legislative authority of a county may establish one or more service districts within the county for the purpose of providing and funding capital and maintenance costs for any bridge or road improvement or for providing and funding capital costs for any state highway improvement a county or a road district has the authority to provide.  A service district may not include any area within the corporate limits of a city or town unless the city or town governing body adopts a resolution approving inclusion of the area within its limits.  A service district is a quasi municipal corporation, an independent taxing "authority" within the meaning of Article VII, section 1 of the state Constitution, and a "taxing district" within the meaning of Article VII, section 2 of the state Constitution.

          A service district shall constitute a body corporate and shall possess all the usual powers of a corporation for public purposes as well as all other powers that may now or hereafter be specifically conferred by statute, including, but not limited to, the authority to hire employees, staff, and services, to enter into contracts, and to sue and be sued.  All projects constructed by a service district pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be competitively bid and contracted.

          The county legislative authority shall be the governing body of a service district.  The county treasurer shall act as the ex officio treasurer of the service district.  The electors of a service district are all registered voters residing within the district.

        Sec. 3.  Section 36.88.010, chapter 4, Laws of 1963 as last amended by section 1, chapter 60, Laws of 1965 and RCW 36.88.010 are each amended to read as follows:

          All counties ((shall)) have the power to create county road improvement districts for the acquisition of rights of way and improvement of county roads and, with the approval of the state department of transportation, state highways; for the construction or improvement of necessary drainage facilities, bulkheads, retaining walls, and other appurtenances therefor, bridges, culverts, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, escalators or moving sidewalks; and for the draining or filling of drainage potholes or swamps((, and said)).  Such counties ((shall)) have the power to levy and collect special assessments against the real property specially benefited thereby for the purpose of paying the whole or any part of the cost of such acquisition of rights of way, construction, or improvement.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 47.05 RCW to read as follows:

          In developing the six-year program and financial plan for highways, the department may not eliminate, delay, or reduce the scale of a project which otherwise would be included in the program in order to coerce or encourage a county or a service district acting under section 1 of this act to participate in funding a portion of an improvement.  However, the department may delay a highway improvement at the request of a county or service district to enable the county or district to develop local funding necessary to pay for additional highway improvements over and above those planned by the department so that the highway improvements may be done at the same time.