Z-1467.1          _______________________________________________

                                  HOUSE BILL 2922

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              54th Legislature             1996 Regular Session

By Representatives B. Thomas, Brown and Romero; by request of Secretary of State

Read first time 01/26/96.  Referred to Committee on Finance.

Funding local government archives and records management.

     AN ACT Relating to archives and records management; amending RCW 40.14.025 and 40.14.027; adding a new section to chapter 36.22 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 40.14 RCW; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 36.22 RCW to read as follows:

     In addition to any other charge authorized by law, the county auditor shall charge a surcharge of one dollar per instrument for each document recorded.  Revenue generated through this surcharge shall be transmitted monthly to the state treasurer for deposit in the archives and records management account.  These funds shall be used solely for providing records scheduling, security microfilm inspection and storage, archival preservation, cataloging, and indexing for local government records through the regional branch archives of the division.

     Sec. 2.  RCW 40.14.025 and 1991 sp.s. c 13 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The secretary of state and the director of financial management shall jointly establish a ((schedule of fees and charges governing the)) procedure and formula for allocating the costs of services provided by the division of archives and records management to ((other)) state agencies((, offices, departments, and other entities.  The schedule shall be determined such that the fees and charges will provide the division with funds to meet its anticipated expenditures)).  The total amount allotted for services to state agencies shall not exceed the appropriation to the archives and records management account during any allotment period.

     There is created the archives and records management account in the state treasury which shall consist of all fees and charges collected under this section, section 1 of this act, and section 3 of this act.  The account shall be appropriated exclusively for ((use by the secretary of state for)) the payment of costs and expenses incurred in the operation of the division of archives and records management as specified by law.

     Sec. 3.  RCW 40.14.027 and 1995 c 292 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:

     State agencies shall collect a surcharge of twenty dollars from the judgment debtor upon the satisfaction of a warrant filed in superior court for unpaid taxes or liabilities.  The surcharge is imposed on the judgment debtor in the form of a penalty in addition to the filing fee provided in RCW 36.18.012(3).  The surcharge revenue shall be transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the archives and records management account((, or procedures for the collection and transmittal of surcharge revenue to the archives and records management account shall be established cooperatively between the filing agencies and clerks of superior court)).

     Surcharge revenue deposited in the archives and records management account shall be expended by the secretary of state exclusively for ((the payment of costs and expenses incurred in the provision of public archives and records management services to)) disaster recovery, essential records protection services, and records management training for local government agencies by the division of archives and records management.  The secretary of state shall ((work)), with local government representatives ((to)), establish a committee to advise the state archivist on the local government archives and records management program.  ((Surcharge revenue shall be allocated exclusively to:

     (1) Appraise, process, store, preserve, and provide public research access to original records designated by the state archivist as archival which are no longer required to be kept by the agencies which originally made or filed them;

     (2) Protect essential records, as provided by chapters 40.10 and 40.20 RCW.  Permanent facsimiles of essential records shall be produced and placed in security storage with the state archivist;

     (3) Coordinate records retention and disposition management and provide support for the following functions under RCW 40.14.070:

     (a) Advise and assist individual agencies on public records management requirements and practices; and

     (b) Compile, maintain, and regularly update general records retention schedules and destruction authorizations; and

     (4) Develop and maintain standards for the application of recording media and records storage technologies.))

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 40.14 RCW to read as follows:

     The amount of the surcharge provided under section 1 of this act shall be adjusted in increments of twenty-five cents whenever the cumulative annual fiscal growth factor since the effective date of this act, or since the last adjustment in the surcharge under this section, as determined by the office of financial management under RCW 43.135.025, equals or exceeds the percentage increase associated with that incremental change in the surcharge.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.  This act takes effect on July 1, 1996.

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