HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 2567

                  As Amended by the Senate

Title:  An act relating to notifying the assessor's office when actions are taken relating to real property.

Brief Description:  Notifying the assessor of real property actions.

Sponsors:  Representatives Wolfe, Rust, Scheuerman, Scott, Costa, Chappell, Linville, Dickerson, Romero, McMahan, Murray, Tokuda, Morris and Conway.

Brief History:

  Committee Activity:

Government Operations:  2/2/96 [DP].

Floor Activity:

Passed House:  2/13/96, 96-0.

Senate Amended.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Majority Report:  Do pass.  Signed by 15 members:  Representatives Reams, Chairman; Cairnes, Vice Chairman; Goldsmith, Vice Chairman; Rust, Ranking Minority Member; Scott, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Conway; R. Fisher; Hargrove; Honeyford; Hymes; Mulliken; Scheuerman; D. Schmidt; Van Luven and Wolfe.

Staff:  Bill Lynch (786-7092).

Background:  Cities, towns, and counties make a number of land use decisions pursuant to the Growth Management Act and the subdivision and platting laws.  These local governments also issue building permits and a variety of other permits for improvements to real property.

Summary of Bill:  Each city, town, and county must notify the county assessor's office within five working days of taking any of the following actions that affect a parcel of real property:  identifying a wetland on the property; identifying the property as part of a critical area pursuant to the Growth Management Act; altering land use restrictions on the property; approving a short plat, preliminary plat, or final plat of the property; approving a condominium or a binding site plan of the property that is exempt from the normal subdivision requirements; issuing a building permit for construction on the property; and approving or issuing any other permit or application authorizing improvements to the property.

The notice provided by the city, town, or county must be in writing, dated, describe the action taken by the county, and identify the property by tax parcel number, address, legal description, or a description of its location.

EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENT(S): The language in the House bill is removed and replaced with the provisions of SSB 6639.  A city, town, or county planning under the Growth Management Act (GMA) must notify the county assessor when it makes a decision under the coordinated environmental/land use process on a permit application.  A state permit agency must notify the county assessor when it makes a final decision with respect to a permit under the coordinated state permit process for environmental review.

A city, town, or county planning under the GMA must provide the county assessor with a copy of its comprehensive plan and development regulations, as well as any amendments adopted in the past year, by July 31 of each year.  This information must be provided by July 1, 1997.

A county assessor may change the valuation of any parcel of property after receiving notice of a decision affecting the value of the property.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  People shouldn't have to pay taxes on property they can't use.  This ensures information will be provided to assessors in a timely manner.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Representative Kathy Wolfe, prime sponsor.