| Passed by the House March 9, 2005 Yeas 66 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 23, 2005 Yeas 32 ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Richard Nafziger, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is HOUSE BILL 2170 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2005 Regular Session |
Read first time 02/21/2005. Referred to Committee on Capital Budget.
AN ACT Relating to including a portion of the real estate excise tax as general state revenue; amending RCW 82.45.180; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 Over the past decade, traditional school
construction funding sources, such as timber revenues, have been
declining, while the demand for school facility construction and
improvements have been increasing. Washington's youth deserve safe,
healthy, and supportive learning environments to help meet their
educational needs. To increase state assistance for local school
construction projects, the legislature expects to rely more on state
bonding authority. The purpose of this act is to expand the
constitutional definition of general state revenues by removing the
dedication of a portion of the real estate excise tax for common
schools. Nothing in this act is intended to affect the state's current
efforts to support common schools in the state's omnibus appropriations
act.
Sec. 2 RCW 82.45.180 and 1998 c 106 s 11 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) For taxes collected by the county under this chapter, the
county treasurer shall collect a two-dollar fee on all transactions
required by this chapter where the transaction does not require the
payment of tax. A total of two dollars shall be collected in the form
of a tax and fee, where the calculated tax payment is less than two
dollars. The county treasurer shall place one percent of the proceeds
of the tax imposed by this chapter and the treasurer's fee in the
county current expense fund to defray costs of collection and shall pay
over to the state treasurer and account to the department of revenue
for the remainder of the proceeds at the same time the county treasurer
remits funds to the state under RCW 84.56.280. The state treasurer
shall deposit the proceeds in the general fund ((for the support of the
common schools)).
(2) For taxes collected by the department of revenue under this
chapter, the department shall remit the tax to the state treasurer who
shall deposit the proceeds of any state tax in the general fund ((for
the support of the common schools)). The state treasurer shall deposit
the proceeds of any local taxes imposed under chapter 82.46 RCW in the
local real estate excise tax account hereby created in the state
treasury. Moneys in the local real estate excise tax account may be
spent only for distribution to counties, cities, and towns imposing a
tax under chapter 82.46 RCW. Except as provided in RCW 43.08.190, all
earnings of investments of balances in the local real estate excise tax
account shall be credited to the local real estate excise tax account
and distributed to the counties, cities, and towns monthly. Monthly
the state treasurer shall make distribution from the local real estate
excise tax account to the counties, cities, and towns the amount of tax
collected on behalf of each taxing authority. The state treasurer
shall make the distribution under this subsection without
appropriation.