BILL REQ. #: S-1486.2
State of Washington | 61st Legislature | 2009 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/09/09.
AN ACT Relating to the time period during which sales and use tax for public facilities in rural counties may be collected; and reenacting and amending RCW 82.14.370.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 82.14.370 and 2007 c 478 s 1 and 2007 c 250 s 1 are
each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) The legislative authority of a rural 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 shall 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 shall not exceed 0.09 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, except that for rural counties with population
densities between sixty and one hundred persons per square mile, the
rate shall not exceed 0.04 percent before January 1, 2000.
(2) The tax imposed under subsection (1) of this section shall be
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 shall perform the collection of such
taxes on behalf of the county at no cost to the county.
(3)(a) Moneys collected under this section shall only be used to
finance public facilities serving economic development purposes in
rural counties and finance personnel in economic development offices.
The public facility must be listed as an item in the officially adopted
county overall economic development plan, or the economic development
section of the county's comprehensive plan, or the comprehensive plan
of a city or town located within the county for those counties planning
under RCW 36.70A.040. For those counties that do not have an adopted
overall economic development plan and do not plan under the growth
management act, the public facility must be listed in the county's
capital facilities plan or the capital facilities plan of a city or
town located within the county.
(b) In implementing this section, the county shall consult with
cities, towns, and port districts located within the county and the
associate development organization serving the county to ensure that
the expenditure meets the goals of chapter 130, Laws of 2004 and the
requirements of (a) of this subsection. Each county collecting money
under this section shall report, as follows, to the office of the state
auditor, within one hundred fifty days after the close of each fiscal
year: (i) A list of new projects begun during the fiscal year, showing
that the county has used the funds for those projects consistent with
the goals of chapter 130, Laws of 2004 and the requirements of (a) of
this subsection; and (ii) expenditures during the fiscal year on
projects begun in a previous year. Any projects financed prior to June
10, 2004, from the proceeds of obligations to which the tax imposed
under subsection (1) of this section has been pledged shall not be
deemed to be new projects under this subsection. No new projects
funded with money collected under this section may be for justice
system facilities.
(c) The definitions in this section apply throughout this section.
(i) "Public facilities" means bridges, roads, domestic and
industrial water facilities, sanitary sewer facilities, earth
stabilization, storm sewer facilities, railroad, electricity, natural
gas, buildings, structures, telecommunications infrastructure,
transportation infrastructure, or commercial infrastructure, and port
facilities in the state of Washington.
(ii) "Economic development purposes" means those purposes which
facilitate the creation or retention of businesses and jobs in a
county.
(iii) "Economic development office" means an office of a county,
port districts, or an associate development organization as defined in
RCW 43.330.010, which promotes economic development purposes within the
county.
(4) No tax may be collected under this section before July 1, 1998.
(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, no tax may be
collected under this section by a county more than twenty-five years
after the date that a tax is first imposed under this section.
(b) For counties imposing the tax at the rate of 0.09 percent
before August 1, 2009, the tax expires on the date that is twenty-five
years after the date that the 0.09 percent tax rate was first imposed
by that county.
(5) For purposes of this section, "rural county" means a county
with a population density of less than one hundred persons per square
mile or a county smaller than two hundred twenty-five square miles as
determined by the office of financial management and published each
year by the department for the period July 1st to June 30th.