READ FIRST TIME 02/17/06.   

     AN ACT Relating to local government passenger ferry service funding; amending RCW 47.60.645, 36.54.110, and 36.54.130; adding new sections to chapter 47.60 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 36.78 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 47.60 RCW to read as follows:
     By August 1st, November 1st, February 1st, and May 1st of every year, the department of transportation shall notify the state treasurer in writing of the amount of state sales and use tax paid under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW by the Washington state ferries on the purchase of fuel for the preceding calendar quarter. By September 1st, December 1st, March 1st, and June 1st of every year, the state treasurer shall transfer an amount equal to the amount indicated by the department in their notification to the treasurer into the passenger ferry account created in RCW 47.60.645. This section expires September 30, 2011.

Sec. 2   RCW 47.60.645 and 1995 2nd sp.s. c 14 s 558 are each amended to read as follows:
     There is hereby established in the transportation fund the passenger ferry account. Money in the account shall be used for ((capital improvements for passenger ferry projects including, but not limited to, pedestrian and transit facilities at ferry terminals and passenger-only ferry vessels)): (1) Operating or capital grants for ferry systems operated or contracted by local governments as provided in chapters 36.54 and 36.57A RCW; or (2) grants for the department to operate the passenger-only ferry route in service as of January 1, 2006. Moneys in the account shall be expended with legislative appropriation.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The indication of the amount of fuel taxes paid by the Washington state ferries in section 1 of this act applies to all calendar quarters beginning on or after April 1, 2006.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   By April 1, 2007, the department of transportation shall sell or otherwise dispose of the Washington state ferries Snohomish and Chinook for market value and deposit the proceeds of the sales into the passenger ferry account created in RCW 47.60.645.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 47.60 RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall maintain the level of service existing on January 1, 2006, for the Vashon to Seattle passenger-only ferry route until such time as either:
     (1) A local government assumes the Vashon to Seattle passenger-only ferry route, and provides a level of service for the route that meets or exceeds the state level. The successor entity assuming the route shall assume any existing labor contract governing service on the Vashon to Seattle passenger-only ferry route; or
     (2) A legislative authority of a county with a population over one million persons and having a boundary on Puget Sound creates a ferry district under chapter 36.54 RCW, assumes service among Vashon, Southworth, and Seattle on or before June 30, 2007, and provides a level of service that meets or exceeds the state level of service on the Vashon to Seattle passenger-only ferry route. The successor entity assuming the route shall assume any existing labor contract governing service on the Vashon to Seattle passenger-only ferry route. A successor entity under this subsection shall enter into an interlocal agreement with the public transportation benefit area serving the Southworth ferry terminal within thirty days of beginning Southworth ferry service.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 36.78 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The county road administration board shall establish a ferry grant program subject to availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose. The purpose of the grant program is to provide: (a) Operating or capital grants for ferry systems operated or contracted by local governments as provided in chapters 36.54 and 36.57A RCW; and (b) grants for the department of transportation to operate the passenger-only ferry route in service as of January 1, 2006.
     (2) In providing grants under this section, the board may enter into multiple year contracts with the stipulation that future year allocations are subject to the availability of funding as provided by legislative appropriation.
     (3) Priority shall be given to grant applications that provide continuity of existing passenger-only service and the provision of local or federal matching funds.

Sec. 7   RCW 36.54.110 and 2003 c 83 s 301 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The legislative authority of a county ((with a population over one million persons and having a boundary on Puget Sound)) may adopt an ordinance creating a ferry district in all or a portion of the area of the county, including the area within the corporate limits of any city or town within the county. The ordinance may be adopted only after a public hearing has been held on the creation of a ferry district, and the county legislative authority makes a finding that it is in the public interest to create the district. ((A ferry district is limited to providing passenger-only ferry service.))
     (2) A ferry district is a municipal corporation, an independent taxing "authority" within the meaning of Article VII, section 1 of the state Constitution, and a "taxing district" within the meaning of Article VII, section 2 of the state Constitution.
     (3) A ferry district is a body corporate and possesses all the usual powers of a corporation for public purposes as well as all other powers that may now or hereafter be specifically conferred by statute, including, but not limited to, the authority to hire employees, staff, and services, to enter into contracts, and to sue and be sued.
     (4) The members of the county legislative authority, acting ex officio and independently, shall compose the governing body of any ferry district that is created within the county. The voters of a ferry district must be registered voters residing within the boundaries of the district.
     (((5) For the purposes of this section, Puget Sound is considered as extending north as far as the Canadian border and west as far as Port Angeles.))

Sec. 8   RCW 36.54.130 and 2003 c 83 s 303 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) To carry out the purposes for which ferry districts are created, the governing body of a ferry district may levy each year an ad valorem tax on all taxable property located in the district not to exceed seventy-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value. The levy must be sufficient for the provision of ferry services as shown to be required by the budget prepared by the governing body of the ferry district.
     (2) A tax imposed under this section may be used only for providing ((passenger-only)) ferry services, including the purchase, lease, or rental of ((passenger-only)) ferry vessels and dock facilities, the operation and maintenance of ((passenger-only)) ferry vessels and dock facilities, and related personnel costs.