Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Appropriations Committee

HB 2045

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Background:

Lands that are acquired or otherwise owned by state government are generally not subject to county property taxes. When the state acquires land for habitat and recreation from private landowners, the land is thus removed from the local tax base. Since approximately 1966, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has been providing counties with payments in lieu of real property taxes (PILT) as a way of offsetting the local impact. Once collected, the money must be distributed throughout the county government in the same manner that property tax revenues are distributed.

In most cases, a county has the discretion as to whether or not to request PILT from the WDFW; however, PILT are not applicable to lands transferred to the WDFW after 1990 from another state agency. A county's legislative authority must first elect to receive PILT and notify the WDFW by December 31 to receive PILT for the following year. Since 1985, counties that elect for PILT have had three formulas to choose from for calculating their PILT request. The formula options are either:

$.70 per acre;

the PILT amount paid in 1984; or

payments equal to the amount paid on similar parcels of open space land.

Generally, the open space tax rate results in the highest payment to counties.

Those counties that elect to receive PILT are required to keep a record of all fines and payments made for violations of game laws or rules in the county and remit that amount each month to the state treasurer. Counties that do not elect to receive PILT are able to retain the moneys collected for game violations on WDFW game lands.

Payments in lieu of real property taxes are administered by the WDFW and are paid from the department's general fund budget appropriation each fiscal year. There are currently 14 counties receiving PILT from the WDFW. Seven of the counties have chosen the open space rate, another six have the 1984 or $.70 per acre rate, and one county has a mix of all three formulas.

During fiscal years 2012 and 2013, the Legislature directed PILT be calculated at the total paid in 2009 to each county and permitted those counties to retain their game violation revenues.