Conservation futures are a useful tool for counties to preserve lands of public interest for future generations. Counties are encouraged to use some conservation futures as one tool for salmon preservation purposes.

(1) Any board of county commissioners may establish by resolution a special fund which may be termed a conservation futures fund to which it may credit all taxes levied pursuant to RCW 84.34.230. Amounts placed in this fund may be used for the purpose of acquiring rights and interests in real property pursuant to the terms of RCW 84.34.210 and 84.34.220, and for the maintenance and operation of any property acquired with these funds.

(2)(a) Generally, the amount of revenue used for maintenance and operations of real property, the rights or interests of which were acquired pursuant to the terms of RCW 84.34.210 and 84.34.220, may not exceed fifteen percent of the total amount collected from the tax levied under RCW 84.34.230 in the preceding calendar year. Revenues from this tax may not be used to supplant existing maintenance and operation funding.

(b) A county may use up to twenty-five percent of the total amount for maintenance and operations of real property, the rights and interests of which were acquired pursuant to the terms of RCW 84.34.210 and 84.34.220, which may not be used to supplant existing maintenance and operation funding, if the county has:

(i) Acquired rights and interests in four hundred or more acres of real property under RCW 84.34.210 and 84.34.220; and

(ii) Collected a conservation futures levy for twenty or more years.

(3) Any rights or interests in real property acquired under this section must be located within the assessing county. The county must determine if the rights or interests in real property acquired with these funds would reduce the capacity of land suitable for development necessary to accommodate the allocated housing and employment growth, as adopted in the countywide planning policies. When actions are taken that reduce capacity to accommodate planned growth, the jurisdiction must adopt reasonable measures to increase the capacity lost by such actions.

(4) In counties greater than one hundred thousand in population, the board of county commissioners or county legislative authority shall develop a process to help ensure distribution of the tax levied under RCW 84.34.230, over time, throughout the county.

(5)(a) Between July 24, 2005, and July 1, 2008, the county legislative authority of a county with a population density of fewer than four persons per square mile may enact an ordinance offering a ballot proposal to the people of the county to determine whether or not the county legislative authority may make a one-time emergency reallocation of unspent conservation futures funds to pay for other county government purposes, where such conservation futures funds were originally levied under RCW 84.34.230 but never spent to acquire rights and interests in real property.

(b) Upon adoption by the county legislative authority of a ballot proposal ordinance under (a) of this subsection the county auditor shall: (i) Confer with the county legislative authority and review any proposal to the people as to form and style; (ii) give the ballot proposal a number, which thereafter must be the identifying number for the proposal; (iii) transmit a copy of the proposal to the prosecuting attorney; and (iv) submit the proposal to the people at the next general or special election that is not less than ninety days after the adoption of the ordinance by the county legislative authority.

(c) The county prosecuting attorney must within fifteen working days of receipt of the proposal compose a concise statement, posed as a positive question, not to exceed twenty-five words, which shall express and give a true and impartial statement of the proposal. Such concise statement must be the ballot title.

(d) If the measure is affirmed by a majority voting on the issue it shall become effective ten days after the results of the election are certified.

(6) Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting in any manner methods and funds otherwise available to a county for financing the acquisition of such rights and interests in real property.