AN ACT Relating to water and sewer districts; and amending RCW 56.08.100, 57.08.100, 56.08.140, and 57.08.120.

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

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 261, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 5, chapter 190, Laws of 1981 and RCW 56.08.100 are each amended to read as follows:

A sewer district, by a majority vote of its board of commissioners, may enter into contracts to provide health care services and/or group insurance and/or term life insurance and/or social security insurance for the benefit of its employees or the commissioners, or both, and may pay all or any part of the cost thereof. Any two or more sewer districts or one or more sewer districts and one or more water districts, by a majority vote of their respective boards of commissioners, may, if deemed expedient, join in the procuring of such health care services and/or group insurance and/or term life insurance, and the board of commissioners of each participating sewer and/or water district may by appropriate resolution authorize their respective district to pay all or any portion of the cost thereof.

Sec. 2. Section 2, chapter 261, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 6, chapter 190, Laws of 1981 and RCW 57.08.100 are each amended to read as follows:

A water district, by a majority vote of its board of commissioners, may enter into contracts to provide health care services and/or group insurance and/or term life insurance and/or social security insurance for the benefit of its employees or the commissioners, or both, and may pay all or any part of the cost thereof. Any two or more water districts or any one or more water districts and one or more sewer districts, by a majority vote of their respective boards of commissioners, may, if deemed expedient, join in the procuring of such health care services and/or group insurance and/or term life insurance, and the board of commissioners of each participating sewer and/or water district may by appropriate resolution authorize their respective district to pay all or any portion of the cost thereof.

Sec. 3. Section 3, chapter 178, Laws of 1967 and RCW 56.08.140 are each amended to read as follows:

No such lease shall be made unless secured by a bond conditioned on the performance of the terms of the lease, with surety satisfactory to the commissioners, in a penalty of not less than one-sixth of the term of the lease or for one year's rental, whichever is greater; and no such lease shall be made for a term longer than twenty-five years: PROVIDED, That the board of commissioners may require a reasonable security deposit in lieu of a bond on leased real property owned by the water or sewer district.

Sec. 4. Section 1, chapter 135, Laws of 1967 ex. sess. and RCW 57.08.120 are each amended to read as follows:

A water district may lease out real property which it owns or in which it has an interest and which is not immediately necessary for its purposes upon such terms as the board of water commissioners deems proper: PROVIDED, That no such lease shall be made until the water district has first caused notice thereof to be published twice in a newspaper in general circulation in the water district, the first publication to be at least fifteen days and the second at least seven days prior to the making of such lease, which notice shall describe the property proposed to be leased out, to whom, for what purpose, and the rental to be charged therefor. A hearing shall be held pursuant to the terms of the said notice, at which time any and all persons who may be interested shall have the right to appear and to be heard.

No such lease shall be for a period longer than twenty-five years, and each lease of real property shall be secured by a bond conditioned to perform the terms of such lease with surety satisfactory to the commissioners, in a penalty not less than the rental for one-sixth of the term: PROVIDED, That the penalty shall not be less than the rental for one year where the term is one year or more. In a lease, the term of which exceeds five years, and when at the option of the commissioners, it is so stipulated in the lease, the commission shall accept, with surety satisfactory to it, a bond conditioned to perform the terms of the lease for some part of the term, in no event less than five years (unless the remainder of the unexpired term is less than five years, in which case for the full remainder) and in every such case the commissioners shall require of the lessee, another or other like bond to be delivered within two years, and not less than one year prior to the expiration of the period covered by the existing bond, covering an additional part of the term in accordance with the foregoing provisions in respect to the original bond, and so on until the end of the term so that there will always be in force a bond securing the performance of the lease, and the penalty in each bond shall be not less than the rental for one-half the period covered thereby, but no bond shall be construed to secure the furnishing of any other bond: PROVIDED, That the board of commissioners may require a reasonable security deposit in lieu of a bond on leased real property owned by a water district.

The commissioners may accept as surety on any bond required by this section, either an approved surety company or one or more persons satisfactory to the commissioners, or in lieu of such bond may accept a deposit as security of such property or collateral or the giving of such other form of security as may be satisfactory to the commissioners.