BILL REQ. #:  S-1604.1 

Read first time 02/20/2003.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to the local public health trust fund; amending RCW 84.52.065 and 84.55.010; adding a new section to chapter 84.52 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 84.55 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 70.05 RCW; creating new sections; providing a contingent effective date; and providing for submission of this act to a vote of the people.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The people of the state of Washington recognize that public health plays a vital role in the safety of their families, communities, and workplaces. Historically, the people of Washington have been leaders in their support for public health. The nation's first public health district was established in Washington state. The people of Washington further recognize that public health is a cost-effective way of preventing disease and reducing health care costs. The people find that the existing system of funding public health is inadequate to assure the provision of traditional services such as immunization, food and water supply safety, environmental health, and communicable disease control and at the same time meet the new challenges posed by issues such as bioterrorism, West Nile virus, and drug resistant tuberculosis. By this act, the people intend to establish a stable and continuing funding source for local public health services and state services which support local public health services.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 84.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) In addition to the levy provided for in RCW 84.52.065, in each year the state shall levy for collection in the following year a state tax of twenty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value upon the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the state adjusted to the state equalized value in accordance with the indicated ratio fixed by the state department of revenue.
     (2) The taxes levied by the state under this section shall be deposited into the local public health trust fund hereby created in the state treasury. Money in the local public health trust fund may be spent only for distribution to counties and health districts and to the health services account solely for the purpose of maintaining and improving local public health services.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 84.55 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The levy by the state under section 2 of this act shall:
     (a) Not be subject to RCW 84.55.010; and
     (b) Be set in any year so that the taxes payable in the following year shall not exceed a dollar amount calculated by multiplying one hundred percent plus the fiscal growth factor by the amount of taxes lawfully levied in the previous year, plus an additional dollar amount calculated by multiplying the increase in assessed value in the state resulting from new construction, improvements to property, and any increase in the assessed value of state-assessed property by the levy rate for the preceding year. In no case shall the levy exceed twenty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value upon the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the state adjusted to the state equalized value in accordance with the indicated ratio fixed by the state department of revenue.
     (2) The limitation provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section does not apply to the first levy by the state under section 2 of this act.
     (3) For purposes of this section, "fiscal growth factor" has the same meaning as in RCW 43.135.025.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) Beginning in calendar year 2004, the state treasurer shall make the following annual distributions, based on calculations by the office of financial management, from the local public health trust fund to the counties and health districts and the health services account as follows:
     (a) Forty-three percent of the revenue shall be distributed based on each department's or district's proportional share of total 1999 local support from counties and their component cities to their respective health department or district;
     (b) Seventeen and nine-tenths percent of the revenue shall be distributed solely for public health services in order to maintain support previously provided from the health services account. Each health department or district shall receive a distribution based on their proportional share of funds appropriated in the 2003-2005 biennial operating budget;
     (c) Three and two-tenths percent shall be distributed to counties or districts to bring per capita funding for county health departments or health districts up to seventy percent of the statewide average per capita funding under (a) and (b) of this subsection;
     (d) Twenty-one and one-tenth percent of the revenue shall be distributed on a per capita basis to each department or district based on their share of the total state population solely to improve public health services and emergency response and prevention capacity for acts of terrorism committed with biological agents, West Nile virus, and communicable diseases;
     (e) One and four-tenths percent will be distributed to counties or districts to bring total funding under (a) through (d) of this subsection up to an amount equal to eighty-five percent of the taxes raised for distributions under those sections; and
     (f) Thirteen and four-tenths percent shall be distributed to the health services account for activities and support of local public health.
     (2) In each year following calendar year 2004: In calculating the amounts to be distributed to each county under subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section the office of financial management shall treat funding increases attributable to the population change component of the fiscal growth factor in the following manner: Only those counties with population growth shall have a change in funding for population. Funding increases generated by the population component of the fiscal growth factor shall be distributed to those counties based on the county's pro rata share of the population increase component of the fiscal growth factor as provided in RCW 43.135.025(9).
     (3) The state treasurer shall make the distributions under this section to the counties and districts and to the health services account as follows:
     (a) One-half of the total amount that each county or district and the health services account is entitled to receive for a calendar year shall be distributed to the counties on July 1st of that calendar year; and
     (b) The remainder of the funds that the counties or districts and the health services account are entitled to receive shall be distributed to the counties on January 1st of the following calendar year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 70.05 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Each local board of health shall establish performance measures for the health department that it governs and shall report annually to the citizens of the health district or county about its performance against those measures. In selecting measures, each board shall take into account local public health priorities identified in a community assessment conducted by the local health jurisdiction and the performance standards adopted in the state public health improvement plan. In the case of those departments and districts where cities have provided funding for enhanced levels of service since 1999, the city shall establish, in consultation with the local board of health, performance objectives for that portion of the distribution under section 4(1)(a) of this act attributable to city contributions for enhanced service levels. A special annual report shall be made by the local board of health to the city and to the citizens of such cities about performance against those objectives.
     (2) Additionally, the secretary of health, in consultation with local public health jurisdictions, shall annually select performance standards from among those adopted in the state public health improvement plan on which each local health department or district shall be required to report. These performance measures shall be designed to demonstrate progress toward meeting the standards and progress made by the public health system toward improving the status of the public's health as required in RCW 43.70.580(5). The secretary of health shall report to the legislature, the governor, and the people of the state regarding local health department and district performance, comparing performance among jurisdictions and highlighting local priorities.
     (3) Within available resources, it shall be the responsibility of the local board of health to implement the state public health improvement plan within its jurisdiction.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   The secretary of state shall submit this act to the people for their adoption and ratification, or rejection, at the next general election to be held in this state, in accordance with Article II, section 1 of the state Constitution and the laws adopted to facilitate its operation. If approved by a majority of those voting at the November 2003 general election, sections 2 through 4 of this act apply to taxes levied in 2003 for collection in 2004 and every year thereafter, and sections 1 and 5 of this act take effect on January 1, 2004. If this act is not approved by a majority of the voters voting at the next general election it is null and void in its entirety.

Sec. 7   RCW 84.52.065 and 1991 sp.s. c 31 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:
     Subject to the limitations in RCW 84.55.010, in each year the state shall levy for collection in the following year for the support of common schools of the state a tax of three dollars and ((sixty)) thirty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value upon the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the state adjusted to the state equalized value in accordance with the indicated ratio fixed by the state department of revenue.
     As used in this section, "the support of common schools" includes the payment of the principal and interest on bonds issued for capital construction projects for the common schools.

Sec. 8   RCW 84.55.010 and 1997 c 3 s 202 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in this chapter, the levy for a taxing district in any year shall be set so that the regular property taxes payable in the following year shall not exceed the limit factor multiplied by the amount of regular property taxes lawfully levied for such district in the highest of the three most recent years in which such taxes were levied for such district plus an additional dollar amount calculated by multiplying the increase in assessed value in that district resulting from new construction, improvements to property, and any increase in the assessed value of state-assessed property by the regular property tax levy rate of that district for the preceding year.
     (2) The tax levy authorized under section 2 of this act is not subject to the requirements of this section.