BILL REQ. #: H-2402.1
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 03/10/03.
AN ACT Relating to providing financial assistance to counties and cities; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 It is the intent of the legislature to
provide local communities more tools to choose their level of public
services and taxes. The legislature recognizes that communities around
the state have different economic environments and one method of
financing local services does not work for all communities. It further
recognizes that in some cases short-term or long-term economic changes
have left communities unable to fund minimum required services by
taxing the local economic base. It also recognizes that some
communities have public safety, human service, or economic development
priorities that are not shared by other communities. It is the intent
of the legislature to provide voters in counties and cities across the
state the tools to shape the destinies of their own communities and to
provide for local priorities. It is further the intent of the
legislature to provide direct financial assistance to counties and
cities that cannot provide basic governmental services without state
assistance.