BILL REQ. #:  S-1402.3 

Read first time 02/12/09.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

     AN ACT Relating to intercounty rural library districts; amending RCW 27.12.190, 27.12.355, and 27.12.222; and adding new sections to chapter 27.12 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 27.12 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The legislative authority of a county comprising part of an intercounty rural library district may, by resolution, submit a request to the county auditor calling for an election to be held in the county for the purpose of determining whether the county shall withdraw from the library district. The adopted resolution shall request that the election be held in the county at the next date provided in RCW 29A.04.330 but not fewer than forty-five days from the date of the resolution.
     (b)(i) A petition calling for a vote to determine whether a county shall withdraw from an intercounty rural library district may be made in writing and filed with the county legislative authority. The petition must set forth reasons for requesting the election and must be signed by qualified voters in the county equal in number to twenty percent of the votes cast at the last general election. If such a petition is received, the legislative authority shall immediately transmit the petition to the county auditor. Upon receipt of the petition, the auditor shall, within twenty-one days, certify the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition. If the petition is found to contain a sufficient number of signatures, the petition, together with a certificate of sufficiency attached thereto, shall be transmitted to the legislative authority.
     (ii) Upon receipt of the sufficient petition and certificate of sufficiency, the legislative authority at its next meeting shall fix a date for a public hearing on the matter to be held not fewer than two weeks nor more than four weeks after the meeting fixing the date. Upon the day fixed, the legislative authority shall determine whether to adopt a resolution calling for an election to determine whether the county shall withdraw from the library district.
     (c) Elections conducted to determine whether the county shall withdraw from the library district shall be held in accordance with state general election laws.
     (2) In accordance with the provisions of this section, if, following the conduct of the election, a majority of the persons voting on the proposition vote in favor of withdrawing the county from the library district, the county shall cease to be a part of the intercounty library district and the process of transferring library district property, assets, and liabilities as provided for in section 2 of this act shall commence. The effective date of the withdrawal shall be at the end of the day on December 31st in the year in which the ballot proposition is approved.
     (3) Following the effective date of the withdrawal, a rural library district in the withdrawing county shall be deemed established.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 27.12 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Following voter approval of a ballot proposition to withdraw a county from an intercounty rural library district as provided for in section 1 of this act, a pro rata portion of all property, assets, and liabilities of the library district shall be transferred to the rural library district of the withdrawing county established in section 1 of this act. The proportional distribution of property, assets, and liabilities mandated by this transfer shall be based upon the population of the library district and the population of the withdrawing county according to the most recent federal decennial census.
     (2) The withdrawal of a county from an intercounty rural library district shall not exempt any property therein from taxation for the purpose of paying the costs of redeeming any indebtedness of the library district existing at the time of the withdrawal.

Sec. 3   RCW 27.12.190 and 1982 c 123 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The management and control of a library shall be vested in a board of either five or seven trustees as hereinafter in this section provided. In cities and towns five trustees shall be appointed by the mayor with the consent of the legislative body. In counties, rural county library districts, and island library districts, five trustees shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners. In a regional library district a board of either five or seven trustees shall be appointed by the joint action of the legislative bodies concerned. In intercounty rural library districts a board of either five or seven trustees shall be appointed by the joint action of the boards of county commissioners of each of the counties included in a district.
     (2) The first appointments for boards comprised of but five trustees shall be for terms of one, two, three, four, and five years respectively, and thereafter a trustee shall be appointed annually to serve for five years. The first appointments for boards comprised of seven trustees shall be for terms of one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven years respectively, and thereafter a trustee shall be appointed annually to serve for seven years. No person shall be appointed to any board of trustees for more than two consecutive terms. Vacancies shall be filled for unexpired terms as soon as possible in the manner in which members of the board are regularly chosen.
     (3) A library trustee shall not receive a salary or other compensation for services as trustee, but necessary expenses actually incurred shall be paid from the library funds.
     (4) A library trustee in the case of a city or town may be removed only by vote of the legislative body. A trustee of a county library, a rural county library district library, or an island library district library may be removed for just cause by the county commissioners after a public hearing upon a written complaint stating the ground for removal, which complaint, with a notice of the time and place of hearing, shall have been served upon the trustee at least fifteen days before the hearing. A trustee of an intercounty rural library district may be removed by the joint action of the board of county commissioners of the counties involved in the same manner as provided herein for the removal of a trustee of a county library.
     (5)(a) If, as of December 31, 2009, a county comprising part of an intercounty rural library district has a population exceeding fifty percent of the total district population, and if fewer than fifty percent of the trustees of that intercounty rural library district are residents of that county, the following applies:
     (i) The district shall be divided into five or seven contiguous subdistricts by joint action of the boards of county commissioners representing each of the counties included in the district;
     (ii) Each subdistrict shall have approximately the same population;
     (iii) To the extent possible, boundaries of subdistricts shall be contained within a county; and
     (iv) Each trustee must reside within the subdistrict to which the trustee is appointed.
     (b) The most recent federal decennial census shall be used to determine population for purposes of this section.
     (c) The first appointments for trustees under this section shall be made in accordance with this section.
     (d) The office of the secretary of state is responsible for enforcing this subsection (5).

Sec. 4   RCW 27.12.355 and 2006 c 344 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) As provided in this section, a rural county library district, island library district, or intercounty rural library district may withdraw areas from its boundaries, or reannex areas into the library district that previously had been withdrawn from the library district under this section.
     (2) The withdrawal of an area shall be authorized upon: (a) Adoption of a resolution by the board of trustees requesting the withdrawal and finding that, in the opinion of the board, inclusion of this area within the library district will result in a reduction of the district's tax levy rate under the provisions of RCW 84.52.010; and (b) adoption of a resolution by the city or town council approving the withdrawal, if the area is located within the city or town, or adoption of a resolution by the county legislative authority of the county within which the area is located approving the withdrawal, if the area is located outside of a city or town. A withdrawal shall be effective at the end of the day on the thirty-first day of December in the year in which the resolutions are adopted, but for purposes of establishing boundaries for property tax purposes, the boundaries shall be established immediately upon the adoption of the second resolution.
     The authority of an area to be withdrawn from a library district as provided under this section is in addition, and not subject, to the provisions of RCW 27.12.380, or sections 1 and 2 of this act.
     The withdrawal of an area from the boundaries of a library district shall not exempt any property therein from taxation for the purpose of paying the costs of redeeming any indebtedness of the library district existing at the time of the withdrawal.
     (3) An area that has been withdrawn from the boundaries of a library district under this section may be reannexed into the library district upon: (a) Adoption of a resolution by the board of trustees proposing the reannexation; and (b) adoption of a resolution by the city or town council approving the reannexation, if the area is located within the city or town, or adoption of a resolution by the county legislative authority of the county within which the area is located approving the reannexation, if the area is located outside of a city or town. The reannexation shall be effective at the end of the day on the thirty-first day of December in the year in which the adoption of the second resolution occurs, but for purposes of establishing boundaries for property tax purposes, the boundaries shall be established immediately upon the adoption of the second resolution. Referendum action on the proposed reannexation may be taken by the voters of the area proposed to be reannexed if a petition calling for a referendum is filed with the city or town council, or county legislative authority, within a thirty-day period after the adoption of the second resolution, which petition has been signed by registered voters of the area proposed to be reannexed equal in number to ten percent of the total number of the registered voters residing in that area.
     If a valid petition signed by the requisite number of registered voters has been so filed, the effect of the resolutions shall be held in abeyance and a ballot proposition to authorize the reannexation shall be submitted to the voters of the area at the next special election date according to RCW 29A.04.330. Approval of the ballot proposition authorizing the reannexation by a simple majority vote shall authorize the reannexation.

Sec. 5   RCW 27.12.222 and 1984 c 186 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     A rural county library district, intercounty rural library district, or island library district may contract indebtedness and issue general obligation bonds not to exceed an amount, together with any outstanding nonvoter approved general obligation indebtedness, equal to one-tenth of one percent of the value of the taxable property within the district, as the term "value of the taxable property" is defined in RCW 39.36.015. The maximum term of nonvoter approved general obligation bonds shall not exceed ((six)) twenty years. A rural county library district, island library district, or intercounty rural library district may additionally contract indebtedness and issue general obligation bonds for capital purposes only, together with any outstanding general indebtedness, not to exceed an amount equal to one-half of one percent of the value of the taxable property within the district, as the term "value of the taxable property" is defined in RCW 39.36.015 whenever a proposition authorizing the issuance of such bonds has been approved by the voters of the district pursuant to RCW 39.36.050, by three-fifths of the persons voting on the proposition at which election the number of persons voting on the proposition shall constitute not less than forty percent of the total number of votes cast in such taxing district at the last preceding general election. If the voters shall so authorize at an election held pursuant to RCW 39.36.050, the district may levy annual taxes in excess of normal legal limitations to pay the principal and interest upon such bonds as they shall become due. The excess levies mentioned in this section or in RCW 84.52.052 or 84.52.056 may be made notwithstanding anything contained in RCW 27.12.050 or 27.12.150 or any other statute pertaining to such library districts.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   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.