BILL REQ. #:  H-1035.1 

Read first time 01/27/09.   Referred to Committee on Finance.

     AN ACT Relating to allowing counties to use existing revenues for public trails; adding a new section to chapter 82.14 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that trails provide tangible benefits for local communities, including access to cultural and natural resources, outdoor recreational opportunities such as hiking, biking, and walking, and provide health benefits for the community through outdoor activities and physical exercise. The legislature further finds that building new trails will enhance the livability of communities and provide important nonmotorized connections to growing urban areas.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 82.14 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The legislative authority of an eligible county may impose a sales and use tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The tax is in addition to other taxes authorized by law and must be collected from those persons who are taxable by the state under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW upon the occurrence of any taxable event within the county. The rate of tax may not exceed 0.06 percent of the selling price in the case of a sales tax or value of the article used in the case of a use tax.
     (2) The tax imposed under subsection (1) of this section is deducted from the amount of tax otherwise required to be collected or paid over to the department of revenue under chapter 82.08 or 82.12 RCW. The department of revenue must perform the collection of such taxes on behalf of the county at no cost to the county.
     (3)(a) Moneys collected under this section must only be used for capital improvements for recreational trails. The recreational trail must be listed as an item in the officially adopted capital facilities element of the county's comprehensive plan for those counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040. For those counties that do not plan under the growth management act, the recreational trail must be listed in the county's capital facilities plan.
     (b) Moneys collected under this section may not constitute more than fifty percent of the cost of capital improvements to recreational trails.
     (c) In eligible counties with a population between one hundred seventy-five thousand and one million, the county must give priority to capital improvements to recreational trails that connect urban growth areas, including but not limited to, connecting existing recreational trail networks or building connections in anticipation of future recreational trails in urban growth areas.
     (d) Each county collecting money under this section must deposit the proceeds into a dedicated interest-bearing account. No later than October 1st of each year, the county must report to the office of the state auditor a list of new projects from the prior fiscal year, showing that the county has used the funds for those projects consistent with this section.
     (4) No tax may be collected under this section before July 1, 2008. No tax may be collected under this section by a county more than ten years after the date that a tax is first imposed under this section.
     (5) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
     (a) "Capital improvement" means:
     (i) The acquisition of sites, easements, rights-of-way necessary for construction or improvement of a recreational trail or improvements thereon or appurtenances thereto;
     (ii) The acquisition of construction and initial equipment; or
     (iii) The reconstruction, demolition, or major alteration of new or presently owned recreational trails. "Capital improvement" does not include planning for, studies of, designs for, maintaining, or operating recreational trails. As used in this subsection (5), "necessary for the construction of" does not include buffers or other nonessential property for the recreational trail.
     (b) "Eligible county" means a county with a population of less than one million.
     (c) "Recreational trail" means a public way constructed primarily for and open to pedestrians, equestrians, or bicyclists, or any combination thereof, other than a sidewalk constructed as part of a city street or county road for the exclusive use of pedestrians. The term "recreational trail" does not include a public way or widened shoulder adjacent to a highway, street, or road unless the highway, street, or road is used to connect a recreational trail to an urban growth area.
     (d) "Urban growth area" means those areas designated by a county pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.