BILL REQ. #:  S-3935.3 

Read first time 01/26/12.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to irrigation and rehabilitation district administration; amending RCW 87.84.060, 87.84.070, and 87.84.071; and adding a new section to chapter 87.84 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 87.84.060 and 1988 c 127 s 68 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The directors of the irrigation and rehabilitation district elected before the effective date of this section shall ((be the same as of the irrigation district and)) continue to serve for the remainder of their current terms.
     (b) The elections held for directors of the irrigation and rehabilitation district after the effective date of this section shall be as provided in section 2 of this act.
     (2) The directors of an irrigation and rehabilitation district shall, except as provided in RCW 87.84.070, retain all power, rights, and authority heretofore granted to them or hereafter granted to them as directors of an irrigation district under any provision of this title ((87 RCW)) or any amendments thereto or any authority granted to directors of irrigation districts under any other law of the state of Washington.
     (3) The irrigation and rehabilitation district shall also retain all power, rights, and authority heretofore or hereafter granted to irrigation districts under this title ((87 RCW)) or any other law or laws of the state of Washington, and use said power and authority including local improvement district provisions to further irrigation and rehabilitation district purposes and in addition shall have authority to rehabilitate or improve all or a portion of any inland body of water including adjacent shore lines located in the district and shall have the further power of modifying or improving any existing or planned water control structure located in the district in order to further the health, recreation, and welfare of the residents in the district.
     (4) All rights held by the irrigation district to water located wholly or partially in the district including but not limited to rights granted by the department of ecology shall upon formation of the irrigation and rehabilitation district immediately vest in the irrigation and rehabilitation district and in addition all water in the newly formed district as to which the prior district had any rights shall be held by the new district for all the beneficial uses and purposes for which the irrigation and rehabilitation district is formed.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 87.84 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) This section applies for elections held after the effective date of this section.
     (2) A person at least eighteen years old who is a citizen of the United States and a resident of this state, and who holds title or evidence of title to assessable land in the irrigation and rehabilitation district or proposed district, is entitled to vote in the district regardless of the size of the ownership or number of parcels owned, and is recognized as a qualified elector.
     (3) Each ownership shall be represented by two votes. If there are multiple owners or joint owners of a single ownership, the owners shall decide among themselves what their two votes shall be. If the ownership is held as community property, each spouse is entitled to one vote or the spouses may vote by common agreement. Each corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability corporation, or other legal entity formed pursuant to the laws of the state of Washington or qualified to do business in the state of Washington and owning land in the district shall be recognized as an elector with two votes.
     (4)(a) Ballots for elections of directors, and elections conducted under RCW 87.84.070 shall be conducted by mail and sent to all qualified electors twenty or more calendar days before the date of the election. Any elections held under this chapter shall be scheduled on the second Tuesday in December in the year of the election. A qualified landowner may register with the irrigation and rehabilitation district up to and through the day of the election and receive a ballot.
     (b) All ballots must indicate that the ballots must be either mailed to the county auditor and contain a postmark on or before election day, or turned in before 5:00 p.m. on election day to the county auditor and stamped by the county auditor with the date and time received. Only ballots that are received by mail within six business days after the required postmarked date and those that are received by the county auditor with the required date and time stamp shall be counted.
     (5) Ballots shall be counted at the county courthouse by employees provided by the irrigation and rehabilitation district. Ballot counting shall be under the supervision of the district secretary and board of directors of the irrigation and rehabilitation district. Ballot counting may begin at 5:00 p.m. the day of the election. Beginning six business days later at 3:00 p.m., the remaining mail-in ballots received by the county auditor shall be counted.
     (6)(a) In order to receive a ballot, a qualifying elector must be preregistered with the district.
     (b) To register, the person, or an authorized representative of other legal entities, must show to an employee of the district at the district office a current driver's license or other government-issued photo identification that shows the elector's date of birth.
     (c) If the district office records do not show land ownership within the district, then the person or entity owning the land must provide proof of ownership to the district.
     (d) Preregistration may also be done by mail if a copy of the current driver's license or other government-issued photo identification is included and if the district office records show the person satisfies the ownership requirements of this section. If ownership is not shown in the district's records, further proof may be mailed or hand delivered to the district office.
     (e) Once registered, electors shall remain on the list of qualified electors unless the list showing ownership in the district received from the county assessor shows that they no longer own property in the district.
     (f) The district shall review the ownership list provided by the county assessor before each election and notify the previously registered electors at least sixty days before an election that their status as qualified electors will be deleted unless the landowner provides sufficient documentation to show that property ownership in the district continues.

Sec. 3   RCW 87.84.070 and 1973 1st ex.s. c 195 s 132 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Beginning one year after the effective date of this section, this section provides the sole authority for an irrigation and rehabilitation district to impose assessments. Beginning one year after the effective date of this section, a district may not impose an assessment under the provisions of chapter 87.03 RCW.
     (2)(a) The directors shall be empowered to ((specially)) assess land located in the district for benefits thereto taking as a basis the last equalized assessment for county purposes((: PROVIDED, That such)). If the assessment ((shall)) does not exceed twenty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value upon such assessed valuation ((without securing authorization by vote of the electors of the district at an election called for that purpose)) an election to approve the assessment is not required.
     (b)(i) A district board may, by majority vote, propose that the level of the assessment above twenty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value be increased by a stated amount expressed in cents per thousand dollars of assessed value. An assessment proposed under this subsection (2)(b) for increases to assessments above twenty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation must be approved by a simple majority of electors casting ballots at an election in accordance with subsection (3) of this section.
     (ii) If a board votes to propose an increase in the level of the assessment in accordance with this subsection (2)(b), it must hold a public hearing at least forty-five days before the election, then may adopt a resolution to place the matter on the ballot. Upon approval by electors, the level of assessment shall continue each year unless an increase in the level of assessment is approved in accordance with this section.
     (3) The board shall give notice of such an election, ((for the time and)) in the manner and form provided for irrigation district elections. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the manner of conducting and voting at such an election, opening and closing polls, canvassing the votes, certifying the returns, and declaring the result shall be nearly as practicable the same as in irrigation district elections.
     (4) The ((special)) assessment provided for ((herein)) in this section shall be due and payable at such times and in such amounts as designated by the district directors, which designation shall be made to the county auditor in writing, and the amount so designated shall be added to the general taxes, and entered upon the assessment rolls in his office, and collected therewith.

Sec. 4   RCW 87.84.071 and 1965 ex.s. c 6 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     The ((special)) assessments provided for in RCW 87.84.070 shall be subject to and inferior to existing local improvement district assessments of any city or town which is included within the boundaries of an irrigation and rehabilitation district. The collection of local improvement district assessments of a city or town, and the right to foreclose the same when delinquent, shall not be impaired in any manner whatsoever by subsequent ((special)) assessments of an irrigation and rehabilitation district. In the event that the county treasurer forecloses on land located within the corporate limits of a city or town for nonpayment of irrigation and rehabilitation district assessments, the certificates of sale and the deeds issued pursuant to the foreclosure proceedings shall contain a recital that the certificate of sale and/or deed is subject to outstanding local improvement district assessments of the city or town.