BILL REQ. #:  H-0191.1 

Read first time 01/13/09.   Referred to Committee on Finance.

     AN ACT Relating to the property tax revenue limit for the county veterans' assistance levy; amending RCW 73.08.080 and 84.55.005; and creating a new section.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 73.08.080 and 2005 c 250 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislative authority in each county shall levy, in addition to the taxes now levied by law, a tax in a sum equal to the amount which would be raised by not less than one and one-eighth cents per thousand dollars of assessed value, and not greater than twenty-seven cents per thousand dollars of assessed value against the taxable property of their respective counties, to be levied and collected as now prescribed by law for the assessment and collection of taxes, for the purpose of creating a veterans' assistance fund. Expenditures from the veterans' assistance fund, and interest earned on balances from the fund, may be used only for:
     (a) The veterans' assistance programs authorized by RCW 73.08.010;
     (b) The burial or cremation of a deceased indigent veteran or deceased family member of an indigent veteran as authorized by RCW 73.08.070; and
     (c) The direct and indirect costs incurred in the administration of the fund as authorized by subsection (2) of this section.
     (2) If the funds on deposit in the veterans' assistance fund, less outstanding warrants, on the first Tuesday in September exceed the expected yield of one and one-eighth cents per thousand dollars of assessed value against the taxable property of the county, the county legislative authority may levy a lesser amount. The direct and indirect costs incurred in the administration of the veterans' assistance fund shall be computed by the county auditor, or the chief financial officer in a county operating under a charter, not less than annually. Following the computation of these direct and indirect costs, an amount equal to these costs may then be transferred from the veterans' assistance fund to the county current expense fund.
     (3) The amount of a levy allocated to the purposes specified in this section ((may)) shall be reduced ((in the same proportion as the regular property tax levy of the county is reduced)) as required by chapter 84.55 RCW.

Sec. 2   RCW 84.55.005 and 2007 sp.s. c 1 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Inflation" means the percentage change in the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures for the United States as published for the most recent twelve-month period by the bureau of economic analysis of the federal department of commerce in September of the year before the taxes are payable;
     (2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, "limit factor" means:
     (((a))) (i) For taxing districts with a population of less than ten thousand in the calendar year prior to the assessment year, one hundred one percent;
     (((b))) (ii) For taxing districts for which a limit factor is authorized under RCW 84.55.0101, the lesser of the limit factor authorized under that section or one hundred one percent;
     (((c))) (iii) For all other districts, the lesser of one hundred one percent or one hundred percent plus inflation;
     (b) For the portion of the county levy allocated under RCW 73.08.080, "limit factor" means a factor not to exceed one hundred six percent; and
     (3) "Regular property taxes" has the meaning given it in RCW 84.04.140.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act applies to taxes levied for collection in 2010 and thereafter.