BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to authorizing sales and use tax equalization payments for transit systems; amending RCW 82.44.150; and adding a new section to chapter 82.14 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 82.44.150 and 1993 c 491 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The director of licensing shall, on the twenty-fifth day of February, May, August, and November of each year, advise the state treasurer of the total amount of motor vehicle excise taxes imposed by RCW 82.44.020 (1) and (2) remitted to the department during the preceding calendar quarter ending on the last day of March, June, September, and December, respectively, except for those payable under RCW 82.44.030, from motor vehicle owners residing within each municipality which has levied a tax under RCW 35.58.273, which amount of excise taxes shall be determined by the director as follows:

The total amount of motor vehicle excise taxes remitted to the department, except those payable under RCW 82.44.020(3) and 82.44.030, from each county shall be multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the population of the municipality residing in such county, and the denominator of which is the total population of the county in which such municipality or portion thereof is located. The product of this computation shall be the amount of excise taxes from motor vehicle owners residing within such municipality or portion thereof. Where the municipality levying a tax under RCW 35.58.273 is located in more than one county, the above computation shall be made by county, and the combined products shall provide the total amount of motor vehicle excise taxes from motor vehicle owners residing in the municipality as a whole. Population figures required for these computations shall be supplied to the director by the office of financial management, who shall adjust the fraction annually.

(2) On the first day of the months of January, April, July, and October of each year, the state treasurer based upon information provided by the department shall, from motor vehicle excise taxes deposited in the general fund, under RCW 82.44.110(1)(g), make the following deposits:

(a) To the high capacity transportation account created in RCW 47.78.010, a sum equal to four and five-tenths percent of the special excise tax levied under RCW 35.58.273 by those municipalities authorized to levy a special excise tax within (i) each county with a population of two hundred ten thousand or more and (ii) each county with a population of from one hundred twenty-five thousand to less than two hundred ten thousand except for those counties that do not border a county with a population as described in subsection (i) of this subsection;

(b) To the central Puget Sound public transportation account created in RCW 82.44.180, for revenues distributed after December 31, 1992, within a county with a population of one million or more and a county with a population of from two hundred thousand to less than one million bordering a county with a population of one million or more, a sum equal to the difference between (i) the special excise tax levied and collected under RCW 35.58.273 by those municipalities authorized to levy and collect a special excise tax subject to the requirements of subsections (3) and (4) of this section and (ii) the special excise tax that the municipality would otherwise have been eligible to levy and collect at a tax rate of .815 percent and been able to match with locally generated tax revenues, other than the excise tax imposed under RCW 35.58.273, budgeted for any public transportation purpose. Before this deposit, the sum shall be reduced by an amount equal to the amount distributed under (a) of this subsection for each of the municipalities within the counties to which this subsection (2)(b) applies; however, any transfer under this subsection (2)(b) must be greater than zero;

(c) To the public transportation systems account created in RCW 82.44.180, for revenues distributed after December 31, 1992, within counties not described in (b) of this subsection, a sum equal to the difference between (i) the special excise tax levied and collected under RCW 35.58.273 by those municipalities authorized to levy and collect a special excise tax subject to the requirements of subsections (3) and (4) of this section and (ii) the special excise tax that the municipality would otherwise have been eligible to levy and collect at a tax rate of .815 percent and been able to match with locally generated tax revenues, other than the excise tax imposed under RCW 35.58.273, budgeted for any public transportation purpose. Before this deposit, the sum shall be reduced by an amount equal to the amount distributed under (a) of this subsection for each of the municipalities within the counties to which this subsection (2)(c) applies; however, any transfer under this subsection (2)(c) must be greater than zero; and

(d) To the general fund, for revenues distributed after June 30, 1993, and to the transportation fund, for revenues distributed after June 30, 1995, a sum equal to the difference between (i) the special excise tax levied and collected under RCW 35.58.273 by those municipalities authorized to levy and collect a special excise tax subject to the requirements of subsections (3) and (4) of this section and (ii) the special excise tax that the municipality would otherwise have been eligible to levy and collect at a tax rate of .815 percent notwithstanding the requirements set forth in subsections (3) through (6) of this section, reduced by an amount equal to distributions made under (a), (b), and (c) of this subsection and section 2 of this act.

(3) On the first day of the months of January, April, July, and October of each year, the state treasurer, based upon information provided by the department, shall remit motor vehicle excise tax revenues imposed and collected under RCW 35.58.273 as follows:

(a) The amount required to be remitted by the state treasurer to the treasurer of any municipality levying the tax shall not exceed in any calendar year the amount of locally-generated tax revenues, excluding (i) the excise tax imposed under RCW 35.58.273 for the purposes of this section, which shall have been budgeted by the municipality to be collected in such calendar year for any public transportation purposes including but not limited to operating costs, capital costs, and debt service on general obligation or revenue bonds issued for these purposes; and (ii) the sales and use tax equalization distributions provided under section 2 of this act; and

(b) In no event may the amount remitted in a single calendar quarter exceed the amount collected on behalf of the municipality under RCW 35.58.273 during the calendar quarter next preceding the immediately preceding quarter, excluding the sales and use tax equalization distributions provided under section 2 of this act.

(4) At the close of each calendar year accounting period, but not later than April 1, each municipality that has received motor vehicle excise taxes under subsection (3) of this section shall transmit to the director of licensing and the state auditor a written report showing by source the previous year's budgeted tax revenues for public transportation purposes as compared to actual collections. Any municipality that has not submitted the report by April 1 shall cease to be eligible to receive motor vehicle excise taxes under subsection (3) of this section until the report is received by the director of licensing. If a municipality has received more or less money under subsection (3) of this section for the period covered by the report than it is entitled to receive by reason of its locally-generated collected tax revenues, the director of licensing shall, during the next ensuing quarter that the municipality is eligible to receive motor vehicle excise tax funds, increase or decrease the amount to be remitted in an amount equal to the difference between the locally-generated budgeted tax revenues and the locally-generated collected tax revenues. In no event may the amount remitted for a calendar year exceed the amount collected on behalf of the municipality under RCW 35.58.273 during that same calendar year excluding the sales and use tax equalization distributions provided under section 2 of this act. At the time of the next fiscal audit of each municipality, the state auditor shall verify the accuracy of the report submitted and notify the director of licensing of any discrepancies.

(5) The motor vehicle excise taxes imposed under RCW 35.58.273 and required to be remitted under this section and section 2 of this act shall be remitted without legislative appropriation.

(6) Any municipality levying and collecting a tax under RCW 35.58.273 which does not have an operating, public transit system or a contract for public transportation services in effect within one year from the initial effective date of the tax shall return to the state treasurer all motor vehicle excise taxes received under subsection (3) of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 82.14 RCW to read as follows:

Beginning with distributions made to municipalities under RCW 82.44.150 on January 1, 1996, municipalities as defined in RCW 35.58.272 and imposing the sales and use tax under RCW 82.14.045 shall be eligible for equalization payments from motor vehicle excise taxes distributed under RCW 82.44.150 as follows:

(1) Prior to January 1st of each year the department of revenue shall determine the total and the per capita levels of revenues for each municipality and the state-wide weighted average per capita level of revenues for all municipalities imposing the sales and use tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045 for the previous calendar year calculated for a tax rate of one-tenth percent.

(2) For each tenth of one percent of sales and use tax imposed under RCW 82.14.045, the state treasurer shall apportion to each municipality receiving less than eighty percent of the state-wide weighted average per capita level of revenues for all municipalities as determined by the department of revenue under subsection (1) of this section, an amount when added to the per capita level of revenues received the previous calendar year by the municipality, to equal eighty percent of the state-wide weighted average per capita level of revenues for all municipalities determined under subsection (1) of this section.

(3) For a municipality established after January 1, 1995, sales and use tax equalization distributions shall be made according to the procedures in this subsection. Sales and use tax equalization distributions to eligible new municipalities shall be made at the same time as distributions are made under subsection (2) of this section. The department of revenue shall follow the estimating procedures outlined in this subsection until the new municipality has received a full year's worth of revenues under RCW 82.14.045 as of the January sales and use tax equalization distribution.

(a) Whether a newly established municipality determined to receive funds under this subsection receives its first equalization payment at the January, April, July, or October sales and use tax equalization distribution shall depend on the date the system first imposes the tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045.

(i) A newly established municipality imposing the tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045 taking effect during the first calendar quarter shall be eligible to receive funds under this subsection beginning with the July municipal sales and use tax equalization distribution of that year.

(ii) A newly established municipality imposing the tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045 taking effect during the second calendar quarter shall be eligible to receive funds under this subsection beginning with the October sales and use tax equalization distribution of that year.

(iii) A newly established municipality imposing the tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045 taking effect during the third calendar quarter shall be eligible to receive funds under this subsection beginning with the January sales and use tax equalization distribution of the next year.

(iv) A newly established municipality imposing the tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045 taking effect during the fourth calendar quarter shall be eligible to receive funds under this subsection beginning with the April sales and use tax equalization distribution of the next year.

(b) For purposes of calculating the amount of funds the new municipality should receive under this subsection, the department of revenue shall:

(i) Estimate the per capita amount of revenues from the tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045 that the new municipality would have received had the municipality received revenues from the tax the entire calendar year;

(ii) Calculate the amount provided under subsection (2) of this section based on the per capita revenues determined under (b)(i) of this subsection;

(iii) Prorate the amount determined under (b)(ii) of this subsection by the number of months the tax authorized under RCW 82.14.045 is imposed.

(c) The department of revenue shall advise the state treasurer of the amounts calculated under (b) of this subsection and the state treasurer shall distribute these amounts to the new municipality from the motor vehicle excise tax distributed under RCW 82.44.150(2)(d).

(d) Revenues estimated under this subsection shall not affect the calculation of the state-wide weighted average per capita level of revenues for all municipalities made under subsection (1) of this section.