BILL REQ. #:  H-0089.1 

Read first time 01/12/11.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to payments in lieu of taxes for lands managed by the department of fish and wildlife; amending RCW 77.12.201 and 77.12.203; and creating a new section.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.12.201 and 2009 c 479 s 63 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislative authority of a county may elect, by giving written notice to the director and the treasurer prior to January 1st of any year, to obtain for the following year an amount in lieu of real property taxes on game lands as provided in RCW 77.12.203. Upon the election, the county shall keep a record of all fines, forfeitures, reimbursements, and costs assessed and collected, in whole or in part, under this title for violations of law or rules adopted pursuant to this title and shall monthly remit an amount equal to the amount collected to the state treasurer for deposit in the state general fund. The election shall continue until the department is notified differently prior to January 1st of any year.
     (2) If deemed by a county legislative authority as beneficial for the economic development of the county, the legislative authority may elect to either reduce payments or excuse from payments under this section all department-owned game land for which the department has an active, utilized private grazing lease, while collecting payments for all other department-owned game lands located in the county.
     (3) For the purposes of this section, "game lands" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 77.12.203.

Sec. 2   RCW 77.12.203 and 2005 c 303 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Notwithstanding RCW 84.36.010 or other statutes to the contrary, the director shall pay by April 30th of each year on game lands in each county, if requested by an election under RCW 77.12.201, an amount in lieu of real property taxes equal to that amount paid on similar parcels of open space land taxable under chapter 84.34 RCW or the greater of seventy cents per acre per year or the amount paid in 1984 plus an additional amount for control of noxious weeds equal to that which would be paid if such lands were privately owned. This amount shall not be assessed or paid on department buildings, structures, facilities, game farms, fish hatcheries, tidelands, or public fishing areas of less than one hundred acres.
     (2) "Game lands," as used in this section and RCW 77.12.201, means those tracts one hundred acres or larger owned in fee by the department and used for wildlife habitat and public recreational purposes. All lands purchased for wildlife habitat, public access or recreation purposes with federal funds in the Snake River drainage basin shall be considered game lands regardless of acreage.
     (3) ((This section shall not apply to lands transferred after April 23, 1990, to the department from other state agencies.
     (4))) The county shall distribute the amount received under this section in lieu of real property taxes to all property taxing districts except the state in appropriate tax code areas the same way it would distribute local property taxes from private property. The county shall distribute the amount received under this section for weed control to the appropriate weed district.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The legislature finds that prior to the effective date of this section, the department of fish and wildlife was not required to make payments under RCW 77.12.203 for lands transferred to the department from other state agencies after April 23, 1990. It is the intent of section 2 of this act to repeal this provision and require payments under RCW 77.12.203 for this grouping of lands prospectively only. Nothing in this act may be interpreted to require the department of fish and wildlife to make retroactive back payments under RCW 77.12.203 for the period of time between April 23, 1990, and the effective date of this section.