BILL REQ. #:  Z-0289.1 

Read first time 01/24/13.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     AN ACT Relating to the implementation of a statewide forest fire protection benefit charge; and adding a new section to chapter 76.04 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 76.04 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The legislature finds and declares that:
     (i) Forest wildfires 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
     (ii) All landowners in the state have a shared interest in protecting forests and forest resources by preventing and suppressing forest wildfires.
     (b) It is therefore the intent of the legislature that the costs of fire protection be equitably shared by all landowners through a statewide special benefit charge (i) to ensure that there will be sufficient local firefighters who are equipped and trained to respond quickly to forest wildfires in order to keep fires small and manage those large fires that do occur and (ii) to increase and stabilize funding for the forest protection program to protect the public's interest in maintaining healthy forests and eliminating sources of fuel for forest wildfires.
     (2)(a) Except as provided in (d) of this subsection, the department shall annually, beginning in calendar year 2013, impose a special benefit charge of five dollars on each taxable parcel of land within the state of Washington, except parcels that are exempt in whole or in part from property tax under RCW 84.36.381. The charge must 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 charges may be corrected at any time by the assessor or treasurer of the county in which the land involved is situated.
     (b)(i) Upon the collection of each special benefit charge paid on a parcel, the county treasurer must:
     (A) Deposit twenty-five cents into the county current expense fund to defray the costs of listing, billing, and collecting the charge;
     (B) Transmit twenty-five cents to the local fire protection district or municipality providing fire protection service to the parcel to be used exclusively for training and equipping local firefighters to respond quickly to forest wildfires or transmit twenty-five cents to the department if the department is providing fire protection service to the parcel or, if no fire protection service is provided to the parcel, for forest fire protection activities and training; and
     (C) Transmit the remaining balance to the department.      
     (ii) The collection of charges under this subsection (2)(b) must be applied against expenses incurred in carrying out this section, including necessary and reasonable administrative costs incurred by the department in the enforcement of this section.
     (c) When land, against which the special benefit charge provided in this section is outstanding, is acquired for delinquent taxes and sold at public auction, the state has 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, must immediately remit to the department the amount of the outstanding charges.
     (d) All nonfederal public bodies owning or administering forest land must pay the special benefit charge. The charge must be payable annually by nonfederal public bodies from available funds within thirty days following the receipt of written notice from the department, which must be no later than October 1st of each calendar year. Unpaid charges are not a lien against the nonfederal publicly owned land but constitute a debt by the nonfederal public body to the department and are subject to interest charges at the legal rate.
     (e) The department may adopt rules to implement this section including, but not limited to, rules on imposing and collecting the special benefit charge.