READ FIRST TIME 01/29/04.   

     AN ACT Relating to the use of rural county sales and use tax proceeds; amending RCW 82.14.370; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   It is the intent of the legislature in enacting this 2004 act to reaffirm the original goals of the 1997 act which first provided distressed counties with the local option sales and use tax contained in RCW 82.14.370. The local option tax is now available to all rural counties and the continuing legislative goal for RCW 82.14.370 is to promote the creation, attraction, expansion, and retention of businesses and provide for family wage jobs.

Sec. 2   RCW 82.14.370 and 2002 c 184 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislative authority of a rural county may impose a sales and use tax in accordance with the terms of this chapter. The tax is in addition to other taxes authorized by law and shall be collected from those persons who are taxable by the state under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW upon the occurrence of any taxable event within the county. The rate of tax shall not exceed 0.08 percent of the selling price in the case of a sales tax or value of the article used in the case of a use tax, except that for rural counties with population densities between sixty and one hundred persons per square mile, the rate shall not exceed 0.04 percent before January 1, 2000.
     (2) The tax imposed under subsection (1) of this section shall be deducted from the amount of tax otherwise required to be collected or paid over to the department of revenue under chapter 82.08 or 82.12 RCW. The department of revenue shall perform the collection of such taxes on behalf of the county at no cost to the county.
     (3)(a) Moneys collected under this section shall only be used ((for the purpose of financing)) to finance public facilities serving economic development purposes in rural counties. The public facility must be listed as an item in the officially adopted county overall economic development plan, or the economic development section of the county's comprehensive plan, or the comprehensive plan of a city or town located within the county for those counties planning under RCW 36.70A.040. For those counties that do not have an adopted overall economic development plan and do not plan under the growth management act, the public facility must be listed in the county's capital facilities plan or the capital facilities plan of a city or town located within the county.
     (b) In implementing this section, the county shall consult with cities, towns, and port districts located within the county and the associate development organization serving the county to ensure that the expenditure meets the goals of this act and the requirements of (a) of this subsection. Each county collecting money under this section shall report to the office of the state auditor, no later than October 1st of each year, a list of new projects from the prior fiscal year, showing that the county has used the funds for those projects consistent with the goals of this act and the requirements of (a) of this subsection. Any projects financed prior to the effective date of this act from the proceeds of obligations to which the tax imposed under subsection (1) of this section has been pledged shall not be deemed to be new projects under this subsection.
     (c) For the purposes of this section, (i) "public facilities" means bridges, roads, domestic and industrial water facilities, sanitary sewer facilities, earth stabilization, storm sewer facilities, railroad, electricity, natural gas, buildings, structures, telecommunications infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, or commercial infrastructure, and port facilities in the state of Washington; and (ii) "economic development purposes" means those purposes which facilitate the creation or retention of businesses and jobs in a county.
     (4) No tax may be collected under this section before July 1, 1998. No tax may be collected under this section by a county more than twenty-five years after the date that a tax is first imposed under this section.
     (5) For purposes of this section, "rural county" means a county with a population density of less than one hundred persons per square mile or a county smaller than two hundred twenty-five square miles as determined by the office of financial management and published each year by the department for the period July 1st to June 30th.