AN ACT Relating to
funding for forest fire protection; amending RCW 76.04.167 and 76.04.610; and
creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 76.04.167 and 1995 c
151 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The legislature
hereby finds and declares that:
(a) Forest wild
fires are a threat to public health and safety and can cause catastrophic
damage to public and private resources, including clean air, clean water, fish
and wildlife habitat, timber resources, forest soils, scenic beauty,
recreational opportunities, economic and employment opportunities,
structures, and other improvements; ((and that it is in the public interest
to protect forests and forest resources by preventing and suppressing forest
wild fires.))
(b) Forest
landowners and the public have a shared interest in protecting forests and
forest resources by preventing and suppressing forest wild fires;
(c) A recent
independent analysis of the state fire program considered it imperative to
restore a more equitable split between the general fund and forest protection
assessments;
(d) Without a
substantial increase in forest protection funds, the state's citizens will be
paying much more money for emergency fire suppression; and
(e) It is therefore
the intent of the legislature that the costs of fire protection be equitably shared
between the forest protection assessment account and state contributions to
ensure that there will be sufficient fire fighters who are equipped and trained
to respond quickly to fires in order to keep fires small and manage those large
fires that do occur. In recognition of increases in landowner assessments, the
legislature declares its intent that increases in the state's share for forest
protection should be provided to stabilize the funding for the forest
protection program, and that sufficient state funds should be committed to the
forest protection program so that the recommendations contained in the 1997
tridata report can be implemented on an equitable basis.
(2) The legislature
hereby finds and declares that it is in the public interest to establish and
maintain a complete, cooperative, and coordinated forest fire protection and
suppression program for the state; that, second only to saving lives, the
primary mission of the department is protecting forest resources and
suppressing forest wild fires; that a primary mission of rural fire districts
and municipal fire departments is protecting improved property and suppressing
structural fires; and that the most effective way to protect structures is for
the department to focus its efforts and resources on aggressively suppressing
forest wild fires.
(3) The legislature
also acknowledges the natural role of fire in forest ecosystems, and finds and
declares it in the public interest to use fire under controlled conditions to
prevent wild fires by maintaining healthy forests and eliminating sources of
fuel.
Sec. 2. 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)) twenty-five 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) 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))
twenty-five cents for each acre exceeding fifty acres, and (iii) the
total of the amounts retained by the county from such assessments under
subsection (5) 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.
In addition to the
procedures under this subsection, property owners with multiple parcels in a
single county who qualify for a refund under this section may apply to the
department on an application listing all the parcels owned in order to have the
assessment computed on all parcels but billed to a single parcel. Property
owners with the following number of parcels may apply to the department in the
year indicated:
Year Number
of Parcels
2002 10
or more parcels
2003 8
or more parcels
2004 6
or more parcels
2005 4
or more parcels
2006 and thereafter 2
or more parcels
The department must
compute the correct assessment and allocate one parcel in the county to use to
collect the assessment. The county must then bill the forest fire protection
assessment on that one allocated identified parcel. The landowner is
responsible for notifying the department of any changes in parcel ownership.
(3) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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)) are 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)) are
subject to interest charges at the legal rate.
(8) 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)) is liable
for the costs of suppression incurred by the department or its agent and ((shall))
is not ((be)) entitled to reimbursement of costs incurred by the
public body in the suppression activities.
(9) The department may
adopt rules to implement this section, including, but not limited to, rules on
levying and collecting forest protection assessments.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. If specific funding for
the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is
not provided by June 30, 2001, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is
null and void.
