Beginning on page 26, after line 20, strike all of section 27 and
insert the following:
"Sec. 27 RCW 84.33.140 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 11 s 13 are each
amended to read as follows:
(1) When land has been designated as forest land under RCW
84.33.130, a notation of the designation must be made each year upon
the assessment and tax rolls. A copy of the notice of approval
together with the legal description or assessor's parcel numbers for
the land must, at the expense of the applicant, be filed by the
assessor in the same manner as deeds are recorded.
(2) In preparing the assessment roll as of January 1, 2002, for
taxes payable in 2003 and each January 1st thereafter, the assessor
must list each parcel of designated forest land at a value with respect
to the grade and class provided in this subsection and adjusted as
provided in subsection (3) of this section. The assessor must compute
the assessed value of the land using the same assessment ratio applied
generally in computing the assessed value of other property in the
county. Values for the several grades of bare forest land are as
follows:
LAND GRADE | OPERABILITY CLASS | VALUES PER ACRE |
| 1 | $234 |
1 | 2 | 229 |
| 3 | 217 |
| 4 | 157 |
| 1 | 198 |
2 | 2 | 190 |
| 3 | 183 |
| 4 | 132 |
| 1 | 154 |
3 | 2 | 149 |
| 3 | 148 |
| 4 | 113 |
| 1 | 117 |
4 | 2 | 114 |
| 3 | 113 |
| 4 | 86 |
| 1 | 85 |
5 | 2 | 78 |
| 3 | 77 |
| 4 | 52 |
| 1 | 43 |
6 | 2 | 39 |
| 3 | 39 |
| 4 | 37 |
| 1 | 21 |
7 | 2 | 21 |
| 3 | 20 |
| 4 | 20 |
8 | | 1 |
(3) On or before December 31, 2001, the department must adjust by
rule under chapter 34.05 RCW, the forest land values contained in
subsection (2) of this section in accordance with this subsection, and
must certify the adjusted values to the assessor who will use these
values in preparing the assessment roll as of January 1, 2002. For the
adjustment to be made on or before December 31, 2001, for use in the
2002 assessment year, the department must:
(a) Divide the aggregate value of all timber harvested within the
state between July 1, 1996, and June 30, 2001, by the aggregate harvest
volume for the same period, as determined from the harvester excise tax
returns filed with the department under RCW 84.33.074; and
(b) Divide the aggregate value of all timber harvested within the
state between July 1, 1995, and June 30, 2000, by the aggregate harvest
volume for the same period, as determined from the harvester excise tax
returns filed with the department under RCW 84.33.074; and
(c) Adjust the forest land values contained in subsection (2) of
this section by a percentage equal to one-half of the percentage change
in the average values of harvested timber reflected by comparing the
resultant values calculated under (a) and (b) of this subsection.
(4) For the adjustments to be made on or before December 31, 2002,
and each succeeding year thereafter, the same procedure described in
subsection (3) of this section must be followed using harvester excise
tax returns filed under RCW 84.33.074. However, this adjustment must
be made to the prior year's adjusted value, and the five-year periods
for calculating average harvested timber values must be successively
one year more recent.
(5) Land graded, assessed, and valued as forest land must continue
to be so graded, assessed, and valued until removal of designation by
the assessor upon the occurrence of any of the following:
(a) Receipt of notice from the owner to remove the designation;
(b) Sale or transfer to an ownership making the land exempt from ad
valorem taxation;
(c) Sale or transfer of all or a portion of the land to a new
owner, unless the new owner has signed a notice of forest land
designation continuance, except transfer to an owner who is an heir or
devisee of a deceased owner or transfer by a transfer on death deed,
does not, by itself, result in removal of designation. The signed
notice of continuance must be attached to the real estate excise tax
affidavit provided for in RCW 82.45.150. The notice of continuance
must be on a form prepared by the department. If the notice of
continuance is not signed by the new owner and attached to the real
estate excise tax affidavit, all compensating taxes calculated under
subsection (11) of this section are due and payable by the seller or
transferor at time of sale. The auditor may not accept an instrument
of conveyance regarding designated forest land for filing or recording
unless the new owner has signed the notice of continuance or the
compensating tax has been paid, as evidenced by the real estate excise
tax stamp affixed thereto by the treasurer. The seller, transferor, or
new owner may appeal the new assessed valuation calculated under
subsection (11) of this section to the county board of equalization in
accordance with the provisions of RCW 84.40.038. Jurisdiction is
hereby conferred on the county board of equalization to hear these
appeals;
(d) Determination by the assessor, after giving the owner written
notice and an opportunity to be heard, that:
(i) The land is no longer primarily devoted to and used for growing
and harvesting timber. However, land may not be removed from
designation if a governmental agency, organization, or other recipient
identified in subsection (13) or (14) of this section as exempt from
the payment of compensating tax has manifested its intent in writing or
by other official action to acquire a property interest in the
designated forest land by means of a transaction that qualifies for an
exemption under subsection (13) or (14) of this section. The
governmental agency, organization, or recipient must annually provide
the assessor of the county in which the land is located reasonable
evidence in writing of the intent to acquire the designated land as
long as the intent continues or within sixty days of a request by the
assessor. The assessor may not request this evidence more than once in
a calendar year;
(ii) The owner has failed to comply with a final administrative or
judicial order with respect to a violation of the restocking, forest
management, fire protection, insect and disease control, and forest
debris provisions of Title 76 RCW or any applicable rules under Title
76 RCW; or
(iii) Restocking has not occurred to the extent or within the time
specified in the application for designation of such land.
(6) Land may not be removed from designation if there is a
governmental restriction that prohibits, in whole or in part, the owner
from harvesting timber from the owner's designated forest land. If
only a portion of the parcel is impacted by governmental restrictions
of this nature, the restrictions cannot be used as a basis to remove
the remainder of the forest land from designation under this chapter.
For the purposes of this section, "governmental restrictions" includes:
(a) Any law, regulation, rule, ordinance, program, or other action
adopted or taken by a federal, state, county, city, or other
governmental entity; or (b) the land's zoning or its presence within an
urban growth area designated under RCW 36.70A.110.
(7) The assessor has the option of requiring an owner of forest
land to file a timber management plan with the assessor upon the
occurrence of one of the following:
(a) An application for designation as forest land is submitted; or
(b) Designated forest land is sold or transferred and a notice of
continuance, described in subsection (5)(c) of this section, is signed.
(8) If land is removed from designation because of any of the
circumstances listed in subsection (5)(a) through (c) of this section,
the removal applies only to the land affected. If land is removed from
designation because of subsection (5)(d) of this section, the removal
applies only to the actual area of land that is no longer primarily
devoted to the growing and harvesting of timber, without regard to any
other land that may have been included in the application and approved
for designation, as long as the remaining designated forest land meets
the definition of forest land contained in RCW 84.33.035.
(9) Within thirty days after the removal of designation as forest
land, the assessor must notify the owner in writing, setting forth the
reasons for the removal. The seller, transferor, or owner may appeal
the removal to the county board of equalization in accordance with the
provisions of RCW 84.40.038.
(10) Unless the removal is reversed on appeal a copy of the notice
of removal with a notation of the action, if any, upon appeal, together
with the legal description or assessor's parcel numbers for the land
removed from designation must, at the expense of the applicant, be
filed by the assessor in the same manner as deeds are recorded and a
notation of removal from designation must immediately be made upon the
assessment and tax rolls. The assessor must revalue the land to be
removed with reference to its true and fair value as of January 1st of
the year of removal from designation. Both the assessed value before
and after the removal of designation must be listed. Taxes based on
the value of the land as forest land are assessed and payable up until
the date of removal and taxes based on the true and fair value of the
land are assessed and payable from the date of removal from
designation.
(11) Except as provided in subsection (5)(c), (13), or (14) of this
section, a compensating tax is imposed on land removed from designation
as forest land. The compensating tax is due and payable to the
treasurer thirty days after the owner is notified of the amount of this
tax. As soon as possible after the land is removed from designation,
the assessor must compute the amount of compensating tax and mail a
notice to the owner of the amount of compensating tax owed and the date
on which payment of this tax is due. The amount of compensating tax is
equal to the difference between the amount of tax last levied on the
land as designated forest land and an amount equal to the new assessed
value of the land multiplied by the dollar rate of the last levy
extended against the land, multiplied by a number, in no event greater
than nine, equal to the number of years for which the land was
designated as forest land, plus compensating taxes on the land at
forest land values up until the date of removal and the prorated taxes
on the land at true and fair value from the date of removal to the end
of the current tax year.
(12) Compensating tax, together with applicable interest thereon,
becomes a lien on the land, which attaches at the time the land is
removed from designation as forest land and has priority and must be
fully paid and satisfied before any recognizance, mortgage, judgment,
debt, obligation, or responsibility to or with which the land may
become charged or liable. The lien may be foreclosed upon expiration
of the same period after delinquency and in the same manner provided by
law for foreclosure of liens for delinquent real property taxes as
provided in RCW 84.64.050. Any compensating tax unpaid on its due date
will thereupon become delinquent. From the date of delinquency until
paid, interest is charged at the same rate applied by law to delinquent
ad valorem property taxes.
(13) The compensating tax specified in subsection (11) of this
section may not be imposed if the removal of designation under
subsection (5) of this section resulted solely from:
(a) Transfer to a government entity in exchange for other forest
land located within the state of Washington;
(b) A taking through the exercise of the power of eminent domain,
or sale or transfer to an entity having the power of eminent domain in
anticipation of the exercise of such power;
(c) A donation of fee title, development rights, or the right to
harvest timber, to a government agency or organization qualified under
RCW 84.34.210 and 64.04.130 for the purposes enumerated in those
sections, or the sale or transfer of fee title to a governmental entity
or a nonprofit nature conservancy corporation, as defined in RCW
64.04.130, exclusively for the protection and conservation of lands
recommended for state natural area preserve purposes by the natural
heritage council and natural heritage plan as defined in chapter 79.70
RCW or approved for state natural resources conservation area purposes
as defined in chapter 79.71 RCW, or for acquisition and management as
a community forest trust as defined in chapter 79.155 RCW. At such
time as the land is not used for the purposes enumerated, the
compensating tax specified in subsection (11) of this section is
imposed upon the current owner;
(d) The sale or transfer of fee title to the parks and recreation
commission for park and recreation purposes;
(e) Official action by an agency of the state of Washington or by
the county or city within which the land is located that disallows the
present use of the land;
(f) The creation, sale, or transfer of forestry riparian easements
under RCW 76.13.120;
(g) The creation, sale, or transfer of a conservation easement of
private forest lands within unconfined channel migration zones or
containing critical habitat for threatened or endangered species under
RCW 76.09.040;
(h) The sale or transfer of land within two years after the death
of the owner of at least a fifty percent interest in the land if the
land has been assessed and valued as classified forest land, designated
as forest land under this chapter, or classified under chapter 84.34
RCW continuously since 1993. The date of death shown on a death
certificate is the date used for the purposes of this subsection
(13)(h); or
(i)(i) The discovery that the land was designated under this
chapter in error through no fault of the owner. For purposes of this
subsection (13)(i), "fault" means a knowingly false or misleading
statement, or other act or omission not in good faith, that contributed
to the approval of designation under this chapter or the failure of the
assessor to remove the land from designation under this chapter.
(ii) For purposes of this subsection (13), the discovery that land
was designated under this chapter in error through no fault of the
owner is not the sole reason for removal of designation under
subsection (5) of this section if an independent basis for removal
exists. An example of an independent basis for removal includes the
land no longer being devoted to and used for growing and harvesting
timber.
(14) In a county with a population of more than six hundred
thousand inhabitants or in a county with a population of at least two
hundred forty-five thousand inhabitants that borders Puget Sound as
defined in RCW 90.71.010, the compensating tax specified in subsection
(11) of this section may not be imposed if the removal of designation
as forest land under subsection (5) of this section resulted solely
from:
(a) An action described in subsection (13) of this section; or
(b) A transfer of a property interest to a government entity, or to
a nonprofit historic preservation corporation or nonprofit nature
conservancy corporation, as defined in RCW 64.04.130, to protect or
enhance public resources, or to preserve, maintain, improve, restore,
limit the future use of, or otherwise to conserve for public use or
enjoyment, the property interest being transferred. At such time as
the property interest is not used for the purposes enumerated, the
compensating tax is imposed upon the current owner."