AN
ACT Relating to forest fire protection assessment; and amending RCW 76.04.610.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
76.04.610 and 1993 c 36 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
If any owner of forest land within a forest protection zone neglects or fails
to provide adequate fire protection as required by RCW 76.04.600, the
department shall provide such protection and shall annually impose the
following assessments on each parcel of such land: (a) A flat fee assessment
of fourteen dollars and fifty cents; and (b) twenty-two cents on each acre
exceeding fifty acres. Assessors may, at their option, collect the assessment
on tax exempt lands. If the assessor elects not to collect the assessment, the
department may bill the landowner directly.
(2)
An owner who has paid assessments on two or more parcels, each containing fewer
than fifty acres and each within the same county, may obtain the following
refund:
(a)
If all the parcels together contain less than fifty acres, then the refund is
equal to the flat fee assessments paid, reduced by the total of (i) fourteen
dollars and (ii) the total of the amounts retained by the county from such
assessments under subsection (((5))) (6) of this section.
(b)
If all the parcels together contain fifty or more acres, then the refund is
equal to the flat fee assessments paid, reduced by the total of (i) fourteen
dollars, (ii) twenty-two cents for each acre exceeding fifty acres, and (iii)
the total of the amounts retained by the county from such assessments under
subsection (((5))) (6) of this section.
Applications
for refunds shall be submitted to the department on a form prescribed by the
department and in the same year in which the assessments were paid. The
department may not provide refunds to applicants who do not provide
verification that all assessments and property taxes on the property have been
paid. Applications may be made by mail.
(3)
In addition to the procedures under subsection (2) of this section, property
owners with parcels in a county subject to a forest fire protection assessment
may apply to the department on an application listing the parcels owned.
Property owners with the following number of parcels may apply to the
department in the year indicated:
Year Number
of Parcels
2000 10
or more parcels
2001 8
or more parcels
2002 6
or more parcels
2003 4
or more parcels
2004
and thereafter 2 or more parcels
There
shall be one application per county. The department shall compute the correct
assessment and allocate one parcel to use to collect the assessment. The
county shall then only bill the forest fire protection assessment on the one
identified parcel. The landowner is responsible for notifying the department
of any changes in parcel ownership.
(4)
Beginning January 1, 1991, under the administration and at the discretion of
the department up to two hundred thousand dollars per year of this assessment
shall be used in support of those rural fire districts assisting the department
in fire protection services on forest lands.
(((4)))
(5) For the purpose of this chapter, the department may divide the
forest lands of the state, or any part thereof, into districts, for fire
protection and assessment purposes, may classify lands according to the
character of timber prevailing, and the fire hazard existing, and place
unprotected lands under the administration of the proper district. Amounts
paid or contracted to be paid by the department for protection of forest lands
from funds at its disposal shall be a lien upon the property protected, unless
reimbursed by the owner within ten days after October 1st of the year in which
they were incurred. The department shall be prepared to make statement
thereof, upon request, to a forest owner whose own protection has not been
previously approved as to its adequacy, the department shall report the same to
the assessor of the county in which the property is situated. The assessor
shall extend the amounts upon the tax rolls covering the property, and upon
authorization from the department shall levy the forest protection assessment
against the amounts of unimproved land as shown in each ownership on the county
assessor's records. The assessor may then segregate on the records to provide
that the improved land and improvements thereon carry the millage levy designed
to support the rural fire protection districts as provided for in RCW
52.16.170.
(((5)))
(6) The amounts assessed shall be collected at the time, in the same
manner, by the same procedure, and with the same penalties attached that
general state and county taxes on the same property are collected, except that
errors in assessments may be corrected at any time by the department certifying
them to the treasurer of the county in which the land involved is situated.
Assessments shall be known and designated as assessments of the year in which
the amounts became reimbursable. Upon the collection of assessments the county
treasurer shall place fifty cents of the total assessments paid on a parcel for
fire protection into the county current expense fund to defray the costs of
listing, billing, and collecting these assessments. The treasurer shall then
transmit the balance to the department. Collections shall be applied against
expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this section, including
necessary and reasonable administrative costs incurred by the department in the
enforcement of these provisions. The department may also expend sums collected
from owners of forest lands or received from any other source for necessary
administrative costs in connection with the enforcement of RCW 76.04.660.
(((6)))
(7) When land against which forest protection assessments are outstanding
is acquired for delinquent taxes and sold at public auction, the state shall
have a prior lien on the proceeds of sale over and above the amount necessary
to satisfy the county's delinquent tax judgment. The county treasurer, in case
the proceeds of sale exceed the amount of the delinquent tax judgment, shall
immediately remit to the department the amount of the outstanding forest
protection assessments.
(((7)))
(8) All nonfederal public bodies owning or administering forest land
included in a forest protection zone shall pay the forest protection
assessments provided in this section and the special forest fire suppression
account assessments under RCW 76.04.630. The forest protection assessments and
special forest fire suppression account assessments shall be payable by
nonfederal public bodies from available funds within thirty days following
receipt of the written notice from the department which is given after October
1st of the year in which the protection was provided. Unpaid assessments shall
not be a lien against the nonfederal publicly owned land but shall constitute a
debt by the nonfederal public body to the department and shall be subject to
interest charges at the legal rate.
(((8)))
(9) A public body, having failed to previously pay the forest protection
assessments required of it by this section, which fails to suppress a fire on
or originating from forest lands owned or administered by it, shall be liable
for the costs of suppression incurred by the department or its agent and shall
not be entitled to reimbursement of costs incurred by the public body in the
suppression activities.
(((9)))
(10) The department may adopt rules to implement this section,
including, but not limited to, rules on levying and collecting forest protection
assessments.
