H-2367.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1546
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State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1991 Regular Session
By House Committee on Local Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Nelson, Haugen, Brough, Hine, Locke, Heavey, Valle, G. Fisher, O'Brien, Zellinsky, R. Fisher, Rust, Brekke, Belcher, Prentice, H. Sommers, Cole, Jacobsen, Phillips and Braddock).
Read first time March 6, 1991.
AN ACT Relating to port districts; amending RCW 53.06.030; adding a new section to chapter 53.36 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 43.09 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 53.36 RCW to read as follows:
A port district with a population of one hundred thousand or more may not impose a nonvoter-approved tax levy under RCW 53.36.020 or 53.36.100 in any year unless, prior to imposing or requesting the imposition of such a nonvoter-approved tax levy, the port prepares a study justifying the imposition of the property tax levy and holds a public hearing on the study at which it shall receive public testimony on the proposed nonvoter-approved tax levy or levies.
The study shall address the following: (1) An analysis of the proposed tax dollars and other public benefits that the port district receives; (2) a comparison of these tax dollars and other public benefits that the port district receives with any tax dollars and other public benefits that other public maritime shipping port authorities in California, Oregon, and British Columbia receive, including both dollar amounts and the relative percentage of supplement that each receives; (3) a description of purposes for which these tax dollars will be expended; and (4) a justification of the use of the proposed property tax dollars.
Sec. 2. RCW 53.06.030 and 1989 c 425 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
The port district commissions in this state are empowered to designate the Washington public ports association as a coordinating agency through which the duties imposed by RCW 53.06.020 may be performed, harmonized or correlated. The purposes of the Washington public ports association shall be:
(1) To initiate and carry on the necessary studies, investigations and surveys required for the proper development and improvement of the commerce and business generally common to all port districts, and to assemble and analyze the data thus obtained and to cooperate with the state of Washington, port districts both within and without the state of Washington, and other operators of terminal and transportation facilities for this purpose, and to make such expenditures as are necessary for these purposes, including the proper promotion and advertising of all such properties, utilities and facilities;
(2) To establish coordinating and joint marketing bodies comprised of association members, including but not limited to establishment of a federation of Washington ports as described in RCW 53.06.070, as may be necessary to provide effective and efficient marketing of the state's trade, tourism, and travel resources;
(3) To exchange information relative to port construction, maintenance, operation, administration and management;
(4) To promote and encourage port development along sound economic lines;
(5) To promote and encourage the development of transportation, commerce and industry;
(6) To operate as a clearing house for information, public relations and liaison for the port districts of the state and to serve as a channel for cooperation among the various port districts and for the assembly and presentation of information relating to the needs and requirements of port districts to the public; and
(7) To publish annually a summary of port district finances showing for each port district, among other items, the amount of property tax collections and the percentage of total income that the property tax collections constitute, and to distribute these summaries to the legislature and interested citizens.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.09 RCW to read as follows:
The system of accounting and reporting for port districts shall treat all property tax receipts as a discrete category or categories of nonoperating income.