Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Local Government Committee

SB 5543

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.

Brief Summary of Bill

Adds that a petition to appoint a board of appraisers may be signed by landowners representing 25 percent of the value of a flood control district's assessments.
Allows the board of directors to reexamine and revise the classification and relative benefit percentages assigned to tracts of land in certain circumstances.

Background:

Flood control districts provide flood control and drainage services and facilities. A flood control district's board of directors may, with the written consent of the county legislative authority of the county within which the major portion of the district is situated, and on petition signed by landowners representing 25 percent of the acreage of the lands in the district, appoint a board of three appraisers to determine the ratio of benefits the lands in the district receive with respect to each other from the district.

To determine the ratios of benefits, the board of appraisers must segregate and divide the lands within the district into classes. The board of appraisers has discretion to set the number of classes to fairly represent the manifest degrees of benefits, including benefits from better sanitation, easier accessibility, facility of drainage, promotion of land development, minimization of flood damages, and flood protection. Land receiving the most benefits is placed in Class No. 1; those lands receiving the next greatest benefits must be placed in Class No. 2, and so on down to the class of the least benefits.

The board of appraisers must determine the percentage of benefits the lands in each class has with respect to the lands in Class No. 1. Those lands falling in Class No. 1 have the ratio or percentage of 100. Assessments are based on the relative ratios of benefits arising from a land's location in its respective class.

Summary of Bill:

A petition to appoint a board of appraisers, to determine the ratio of benefits the lands in the district receive with respect to each other from the district, may also be signed by landowners representing 25 percent of the value of the assessments of the district.

When there is any subdivision, lot-line adjustment, or other change in the land use characteristics of any tract of land in the district, the board of directors may, with the written consent of the county legislative authority of the county within which the major portion of the district is situated, and without a landowner petition or formation of a board of appraisers, reconsider and revise, and/or reaffirm the classification and relative percentages assigned to each tract. The board must conduct any reexamination in the same manner used to make the determination originally. Reexamination has no legal effect on any assessment regularly levied before the order of appraisal by the reexamining board of directors and may not occur more than once per calendar year.