HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 5907

As Amended by the House

BYSenators Hansen, Barr and Benitz

Changing provisions relating to annexations and incorporations involving a portion of a fire protection district.

House Committe on Local Government

Majority Report:  Do pass with amendments.  (13)

      Signed by Representatives Haugen, Chair; Ferguson, Ranking Republican Member; Horn, Nealey, Nelson, Nutley, Phillips, Raiter, Rayburn, Todd, Wolfe, Wood and Zellinsky.

House Staff:Steve Lundin (786-7127)

AS PASSED HOUSE APRIL 14, 1989

BACKGROUND:

Whenever territory that is located in a fire protection district is annexed or incorporated by a city or town, the territory is removed from the fire protection district.

All the assets of the fire protection district are transferred to a city or town that annexes or incorporates territory within the fire protection district, when the city or town pays a designated amount to the fire protection district if the annexed or incorporated territory constitutes 60 percent or more of the assessed valuation of the fire protection district.  A fire protection district retains its assets, but must pay a certain amount to a city or town that annexes or incorporates territory within the fire protection district, if the territory that is so annexed or incorporated constitutes less than 60 percent of the total assessed valuation of the fire protection district.

No transfer of money from a fire protection district occurs if the territory that is incorporated constitutes 5 percent or less of the assessed valuation of the fire protection district, nor if the territory that is annexed by a regular city or town constitutes 5 percent or less of the assessed valuation of the fire protection district.  However, no transfer of money from a fire protection district occurs if the territory that is annexed by a code city constitutes 5 percent or less of the area of the fire protection district.  This differing threshold for regular city or town annexations, and city incorporations, was established in 1986.

SUMMARY:

The threshold is altered from 5 percent of the assessed valuation of a fire protection district, to 5 percent of the area of a fire protection district, that determines when a fire protection district must make payments to a city that incorporates territory located in the fire protection district, or must make payments to a regular city or town annexing territory located in the fire protection district.

An arbitration process is provided to determine if some distribution of assets from the fire protection district to the city or town should occur in instances where the city or town annexes or incorporates less than 6 percent of the area of a fire protection district.  The process only occurs if the city claims it will incur a significant increase in fire suppression responsibility as a result of the annexation or incorporation of such territory.  Arbitration may be over the issue of whether a significant impact will occur, and if so, over the extent of the distribution of assets from the district to the city or town.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Pete Spiller, Washington Fire Commissioners Association; Bruce Holloway, Grant County Fire District No. 5.

House Committee - Testified Against:      Stan Finkelstein, Association of Washington Cities.

House Committee - Testimony For:    (Original Measure:)  A conflict exists between code city statutes and regular city statutes.  Under existing law, a regular city could annex a small industrial area that includes a large percentage of a fire district's assessed valuation, but a small percentage of its area.  This could hurt the fire district.  The change in regular city law makes this law identical with code city law.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      (Original Measure:)  This is a tough issue.  The city could experience a tremendous increase in fire suppression responsibility by annexing a small area.