6464-S AMS .... S4338.1

6464-S AMS .... S4338.1

SSB 6464 - S AMD TO S AMD (S-4326.2/02) AMD 590

By Senator Jacobsen

WITHDRAWN 02/18/02

On page 15, after line 3 of the amendment, insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. (1)(a) At the time any tax authorized by section 7, 8, 9, or 10 of this act is submitted for approval to the qualified electors of the authority area, the governing body of the authority shall adopt a resolution generally describing the public transportation facilities to be financed with the tax revenues, including possible alternatives, together with an estimate of the maximum cost of constructing or acquiring those facilities. If the authority has not yet been established, the resolution shall be adopted by the governing body of any public corporation, development authority, regional planning agency, or other governmental entity that has the responsibility for preparing a plan describing the public transportation facilities to be financed by the authority upon its creation.

(b) If the qualified electors do not approve the continuation of those taxes, the authority may resubmit a revised plan including the tax proposal for elector approval. If substantial construction or substantial acquisition of property has not begun, then a yes vote approves the resubmitted plan if the cost is within one hundred twenty-five percent of the original estimate and a no vote sets in place the dissolution, which shall honor all bonding commitments until the debt is retired.

(2)(a) In addition, before the commencement of substantial construction or substantial acquisition of facilities, the governing body of the authority shall by resolution confirm or modify the description of the proposed public transportation facilities plan and the estimated cost of it. If, as described in that confirmation or modification resolution, the public transportation facilities to be constructed or acquired deviate substantially from the adopted plan or the alternatives described in the resolution adopted before the submission of taxes to the electors for approval, or if the modified estimated construction cost is more than one hundred twenty-five percent of the earlier adopted estimated maximum construction cost in constant dollars as determined by the superior court, any qualified elector within the authority area may initiate a referendum wherein a yes vote approves the continuation of the taxes previously approved.

(b) If substantial construction or substantial acquisition of facilities has occurred then a yes vote approves the resubmitted plan and a no vote requires the authority to produce a plan that can be accomplished based upon expenditures of no more than one hundred twenty-five percent of the cost of the original budget plan.

(3) Any referendum petition to dissolve the city transportation authority shall be filed with the city council within thirty days of the publication of the resolution and must contain provisions for dissolution of the authority, including plans to fulfill the bond obligations. "Constant dollars" means dollars valued according to their purchasing power in the year the qualified electors of the authority approved the imposition of taxes to provide for the construction and acquisition of facilities, adjusted for inflationary price changes so that real purchasing power can be compared.

(4) The superior court must review the validity of the referendum petition. The court shall accord first priority to examining the proposed modifications, may receive briefing and hear arguments, and shall, within thirty days of the date the complaint was filed, render its decision. The decision of the superior court is final. If the superior court determines that the estimated cost is more than one hundred twenty-five percent of the original adopted plan or that a deviation from the adopted plan is substantial, the city council shall confer with the petitioner concerning form and style of the petition, issue an identification number for the petition, and write a ballot title for the measure. The ballot title shall be posed as a question and an affirmative vote on the measure shall result in retention of the authority. The petitioner shall be notified of the identification number and ballot title within the ten-day period.

(5) After the notification in subsection (4) of this section, the petitioner has ninety days in which to secure on petition forms the signatures of not less than fifteen percent of the registered voters in the authority area and to file the signed petitions with the filing officer. Each petition form shall contain the ballot title and the full text of the measure to be referred. The filing officer shall verify the sufficiency of the signatures on the petitions. If sufficient valid signatures are properly submitted, the filing officer shall submit the referendum to the authority area voters at a general or special election held in accordance with RCW 29.13.010 and as determined by the city council, which election shall not take place later than one hundred twenty days after the signed petition has been filed with the filing officer."

Renumber the remaining sections consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.

On page 15, line 36 of the amendment, after "13" insert "and 15"