AN ACT Relating to port districts; amending RCW 53.04.020; and adding a new section to chapter 53.04 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 53.04.020 and 1990 c 259 s 15 are each amended to read as follows:

At any general election or at any special election which may be called for that purpose, the county legislative authority of any county in this state may, or on petition of ten percent of the registered voters 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 may: (1) Be~~)) coextensive with the limits of such county ((as now or hereafter established; or (2) be under the provisions of RCW 53.04.022)). 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 or her certificate thereto. No person having signed such petition shall be allowed to withdraw his or her 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 or her certificate of sufficiency attached thereto, to the legislative authority of the county, who shall submit such proposition at the next general election or, if such petition so requests, the county legislative authority shall, at their first meeting after the date of such certificate, by resolution, call a special election to be held in accordance with RCW 29.13.010 and 29.13.020. The notice of election shall state the boundaries of the proposed port district and the object of such election. In submitting the question to the voters for their approval or rejection, the proposition shall be expressed on the 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 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 legislative authority of the county).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. ~~A new section is added to chapter 53.04 RCW to read as follows:~~

A less than county-wide port district with an assessed valuation of at least seventy-five million dollars may be created in a county that already has a less than county-wide port district located within its boundaries. Except as provided in this section, such a port district shall be created in accordance with the procedure to create a county-wide port district.

The effort to create such a port district is initiated by the filing of a petition with the county auditor calling for the creation of such a port district, describing the boundaries of the proposed port district, and providing a name for the proposed port district. The petition must be signed by voters residing within the proposed port district equal in number to at least ten percent of such voters who voted at the last county general election.

A public hearing on creation of the proposed port district shall be held by the county legislative authority if the county auditor certifies that the petition contained sufficient valid signatures. Notice of the public hearing must be published in the county's official newspaper at least ten days prior to the date of the public hearing. After taking testimony, the county legislative authority may make changes in the boundaries of the proposed port district if it finds that such changes are in the public interest and shall determine if the creation of the port district is in the public interest. No area may be added to the boundaries unless a subsequent public hearing is held on the proposed port district.

The county legislative authority shall submit a ballot proposition authorizing the creation of the proposed port district to the voters of the proposed port district, at any special election date provided in RCW 29.13.020, if it finds the creation of the port district to be in the public interest.

The port district shall be created if a majority of the voters voting on the ballot proposition favor the creation of the port district. The initial port commissioners shall be elected at the same election as provided in RCW 53.12.050, but the election of commissioners shall be null and void if the port district is not created. Commissioner districts shall not be used in the initial election of the port commissioners.