H-3607.1

HOUSE BILL 2559

ByRepresentatives Springer and Dent

AN ACT Relating to payments in lieu of real property taxes by the department of fish and wildlife; amending RCW 77.12.203; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 77.12.203 and 2019 c 415 s 983 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((Except as provided in subsections (5), (6), and (7) of this section and notwithstanding))Notwithstanding RCW 84.36.010 or other statutes to the contrary, the ((director must pay))state treasurer, on behalf of the department, must distribute to counties by April 30th of each year on game lands, regardless of acreage, in each county, if requested by an election under RCW 77.12.201, an amount in lieu of real property taxes equal to that amount paid on similar parcels of open space land taxable under chapter 84.34 RCW or the greater of seventy cents per acre per year or the amount paid in 1984 plus an additional amount for control of noxious weeds equal to that which would be paid if such lands were privately owned. This amount may not be assessed or paid on department buildings, structures, facilities, game farms, fish hatcheries, water access sites, tidelands, or public fishing areas.

(2) "Game lands," as used in this section and RCW 77.12.201, means those tracts, regardless of acreage, owned in fee by the department and used for wildlife habitat and public recreational purposes. All lands purchased for wildlife habitat, public access, or recreation purposes with federal funds in the Snake River drainage basin are considered game lands regardless of acreage.

(3) This section does not apply to lands transferred after April 23, 1990, to the department from other state agencies.

(4) The county must distribute the amount received under this section in lieu of real property taxes to all property taxing districts except the state in appropriate tax code areas the same way it would distribute local property taxes from private property. The county must distribute the amount received under this section for weed control to the appropriate weed district.

(((5) For the 2013-2015 and 2015-2017 fiscal biennia, the director must pay by April 30th of each year on game lands in each county, if requested by an election under RCW 77.12.201, an amount in lieu of real property taxes and must be distributed as follows:

(7) During the 2019-21 [2021 fiscal] biennium, the state treasurer must distribute the payments required under this section on behalf of the director.))

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