Brief Description: Adjusting population thresholds for membership on the county road administration board.

Sponsors: Representative Murray; by request of County Road Administration Board.

Hearing Date: 2/4/04

Staff: Jeff Doyle (786-7322).

Background:

The County Road Administration Board (CRAB) was created by the Legislature in 1965 to provide statutory oversight of Washington's 39 county road departments. The agency is funded from the portion of the counties' fuel tax that is withheld for state supervision, and from a small portion of the two grant programs that it administers. The agency is governed by a nine member board which meets quarterly and is comprised of six county commissioners/council-members and three county engineers. Current law requires that three board members be from counties with a population of 125,000 or more; four board members must be from counties with a population of 12,000 to 125,000; and two board members must be from counties with a population of less than 12,000. This effectively establishes three groupings of counties: small, mid-size and large. No county may have more than one member appointed to the CRAB.

Population increases since 1965 (when the original three groupings were created) have resulted in a disproportional representation on the board.

Summary of Bill:

The population threshold for small counties is raised from 12,000 to 20,000. The result is that Asotin, Klickitat, Adams and San Juan counties are grouped with the small county group, instead of the mid-sized county group. Membership of the CRAB is restored to reflect the original proportional representation among member counties.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.