FINAL BILL REPORT

                     SHB 1050

                                 C 138 L 91

                            Synopsis As Enacted

Brief Description:  Modifying the type of emergency medical service districts that may impose excess levies.

By House Committee on Local Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Morris, Cooper, Wynne, Peery, Ogden, Wang, Nealey and H. Myers).

House Committee on Local Government

Senate Committee on Governmental Operations

Background:  Five separate units of local government are authorized to submit requests to their voters to authorize regular property tax levies, of up to 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation for six years, to finance emergency medical services within the local government.  These local governments are counties, cities and towns, fire protection districts, public hospital districts, and emergency medical service districts.

Every local government that has been authorized to impose regular property taxes also has been authorized to impose excess property tax levies, except for emergency medical service districts.

An emergency medical service district is created by the county legislative authority and may include all or part of the unincorporated territory in the county.  The only powers of an emergency medical service district are to impose voter approved regular property taxes and to provide emergency medical services within the district's boundaries.

Records from the Department of Revenue indicate that for collections in 1990, 142 different taxing districts were imposing regular property tax levies to finance emergency medical services, including 79 fire protection districts, 38 cities or towns, 18 emergency medical service districts, four public hospital districts, and three counties.  In addition, Thurston County imposes an excess property tax levy to finance emergency medical services in the county.

Summary:  Any emergency medical service district with a population density of less than 1,000 persons per square mile is authorized to impose excess property tax levies.

A drafting error is corrected to reflect that transportation benefit districts are authorized to impose excess property tax levies.

Votes on Final Passage:

House 94    0

Senate   44    0

Effective:     July 28, 1991