HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 2567

                      As Passed House:

                      February 13, 1996

Title:  An act relating to notifying the assessor's office when actions are taken relating to real property.

Brief Description:  Notifying the assessor of real property actions.

Sponsors:  Representatives Wolfe, Rust, Scheuerman, Scott, Costa, Chappell, Linville, Dickerson, Romero, McMahan, Murray, Tokuda, Morris and Conway.

Brief History:

  Committee Activity:

Government Operations:  2/2/96 [DP].

Floor Activity:

Passed House:  2/13/96, 96-0.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Majority Report:  Do pass.  Signed by 15 members:  Representatives Reams, Chairman; Cairnes, Vice Chairman; Goldsmith, Vice Chairman; Rust, Ranking Minority Member; Scott, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Conway; R. Fisher; Hargrove; Honeyford; Hymes; Mulliken; Scheuerman; D. Schmidt; Van Luven and Wolfe.

Staff:  Bill Lynch (786-7092).

Background:  Cities, towns, and counties make a number of land use decisions pursuant to the Growth Management Act and the subdivision and platting laws.  These local governments also issue building permits and a variety of other permits for improvements to real property.

Summary of Bill:  Each city, town, and county must notify the county assessor's office within five working days of taking any of the following actions that affect a parcel of real property:  identifying a wetland on the property; identifying the property as part of a critical area pursuant to the Growth Management Act; altering land use restrictions on the property; approving a short plat, preliminary plat, or final plat of the property; approving a condominium or a binding site plan of the property that is exempt from the normal subdivision requirements; issuing a building permit for construction on the property; and approving or issuing any other permit or application authorizing improvements to the property.

The notice provided by the city, town, or county must be in writing, dated, describe the action taken by the county, and identify the property by tax parcel number, address, legal description, or a description of its location.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  People shouldn't have to pay taxes on property they can't use.  This ensures information will be provided to assessors in a timely manner.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Representative Kathy Wolfe, prime sponsor.