Legislative Bulletin Bill Room (360) 786-7573 Legislative Hot Line 1-800-562-6000 April 7, 2000 http://www.wacounties.org Bulletin #13 EXTRAORDINARY SESSION ENDS By the time you receive this bulletin, the first extraordinary session of the year 2000 will most likely be over. The legislature will adjourn today-the 29th day of the 30-day extraordinary session. At this time, there is no supplemental operating budget and there is no supplemental transportation budget. Fiscal issues continue to be debated and leadership has indicated that if and when an agreement is ultimately reached, there will be a special session called to pass these fiscal issues. Some press reports suggested an immediate call back would bring additional pressure to bear since legislators can not be involved in fund raising activities during an extra session of the legislature. Washington's campaign limitation measure prohibits any fund raising activities within the thirty days following a regular legislative session and while the legislature is in special session. So, during the last 29 days, legislators were not able to raise campaign funds because it was within the 30 days after the regular session and they were also in an extraordinary session. Starting Sunday, full scale campaigning can commence. Thursday, county and city representatives were asked to meet with Representatives Tom Huff (R) and Helen Sommers (D) and Senator Valoria Loveland (D) to discuss the distribution of funds to cities and counties to replace losses as a result of the passage of I-695. Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) staff were at their WSAC Western District meeting working on a compromise distribution formula to address some of the varying concerns between the House and the Senate formulas. By 2:00 p.m., over 30 counties had been contacted and WSAC related to WACO that they had a proposal that could be supported by nearly every county. This recommendation was faxed to the WACO office and WACO staff took that recommendation to the 2:30 p.m. meeting with the key legislators. The WSAC alternative (copy attached) was to take the $34 million and use it to replace 53.39% of the MVET loss to the 39 counties. Doing so would have resulted in every county except seven receiving more than the minimum amount that was previously in either the House or the Senate budgets. Seven counties needed to receive an increased allocation so they would not receive less than the minimum that had been previously included in the House or the Senate. To raise the seven counties to meet those minimums would take an additional $1.622 million. Therefore, we asked the Senate and House conferees to increase the allocation to counties from $34 million to $35.622 million and distribute it in such a way that no county would receive less than 53.39% of their loss or the lessor amount that had been previously included in the Senate and House budgets. Legislative leaders were told that if either of the current House or Senate formulas were used, there would be winners and losers either way, they would have some counties upset by the choice of the formula. The compromise formula, along with a larger level of funding, would gain county support. The presentation seemed to go well, however, no decisions were made in that meeting. The conferees indicated they would meet later to make the ultimate decision. ************************************** PROPERTY TAXES Property taxes were also discussed with the WACO Staff at the conferees meeting on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. There has been a new recommendation to try to break the stalemate between the House and the Senate. The recommendation is a variation of SJR 8212 (which provides a $200 credit to all residential primary residents). The alternative would provide a $100 credit to all primary residences, but also a $100 credit to all "primary businesses." Nothing yet is available in writing, so it is not exactly clear what "primary business" means. It is our understanding that it would mean businesses that own real property and that each business whether located in multiple locations within a county or more than one counties, would be entitled to this credit in the county where the principal place of operation is located. WACO Staff emphasized we had no position on SJR 8212, but that there were two consensus's when the assessors and treasurers discussed this measure. One is that it would require a constitutional amendment to implement either SJR 8212 or this compromise measure as well and that a constitutional amendment was essential because we did not want to implement a statutory change that could later be declared unconstitutional. The second consensus was that the State should pay all of the implementation and ongoing costs of this change. Beyond that, we asked that any measure being considered should grant assessors and treasurers the greatest flexibility for implementation and explained that the approach taken would vary from county to county depending upon their volume, their level of computerization, etc. When asked for a cost figure for implementation of the new alternative, based on a few quick phone calls, we estimated that the cost would be 10% to 20% greater than the figures previously developed for SJR 8212, which ran approximately $4.5 million. That would raise the impact cost to somewhere between $5 million and $6 million. Although nothing was said, based upon the questions we were asked, it appears that there is significant hesitation on the part of some of the conferees on the alternative. As we stated in the past, there remains a significant reluctance in both House caucuses to deal with the original SJR 8212. Since most legislators will be back home, assessors and treasurers now have an opportunity to talk directly with them regarding any of the property tax options. You should do so prior to the time that they may return to Olympia for a vote on the budget and some possible property tax measure. ************************************** COURTHOUSE VISITS The staffs of the Washington Association of County Officials and Washington State Association of Counties plan to visit each courthouse in the state in the next few months. The plans are to meet for approximately one hour with all elected officials and any appointed staff members interested in a discussion of what ultimately results from this legislative session (we hope). We also want to discuss the efforts that will be necessary on behalf of all county officials to sustain ongoing funding to replace losses from I-695 and to provide time for the elected officials in the courthouse to express to the associations' staff, individual county concerns as well. In the past, we visited three courthouses per day. This time we will visit two courthouses per day to have time after the meeting to visit individual offices and/or view interesting projects or significant activities going on in individual counties. Plans are to visit the courthouses in Eastern Washington the week of May 1 - 5 and the week of June 5 - 9. Western Washington counties will be covered mostly by day trips during April, May and June. Contacts are currently being made to reserve meeting rooms and each individual county office will receive a notice as soon as possible on the specific date, time and location of these meetings. ************************************** WORKSHOPS ************************************** 3RD ANNUAL LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP SCHEDULED Mark your calendars for May 4th and 5th, 2000 for the 3rd Annual Local Board of Health Leadership Workshop. It will be held at the West Coast SeaTac Hotel in SeaTac, WA. The agenda includes such things as the Secretary of Health, Mary Selecky, talking about the role of government in public health. Participants will have the opportunity to talk about public health standards and accountability, public health financing, State Board of Health and Local Board of Health relationships, as well as other topics. Thursday afternoon will feature several roundtable discussions including the following topics: "Battling the Bugs/Infectious Disease Threats", Water, Water Everywhere/To Drink or Not to Drink", "Who's Health is it Anyway/Understanding and Making Decisions about the Health of Your Community", Saving Our Youth/Local Boards of Health role in Keeping Kids Out of Jail", and Access Crisis/Local Boards of Health Responsibility to Local Access Problems". Don't miss this opportunity to share experiences and knowledge about public health policy with your colleagues and to explore opportunities to work together for the health of our communities. You should have received your registration packet in the mail last week. ************************************** JOBS ************************************** ENGINEERING, SENIOR DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION TECHNICIAN - PEND OREILLE COUNTY. Designing, contract coordinating and project guidance for the County's Road Division design and construction projects and maintaining and computer network for the Public Works Department. AA Degree from Civil Engineering College or Technical School with 10 years civil design, surveying, and construction inspection experience. Equivalent work experience can be substituted for college. Salary: $2,801 - $3,618/month DOQ. Obtain application and job description through the Pend Oreille County Personnel Office, West 625 4th Street, (PO Box 5025), Newport, WA 99156-5025, Phone (509) 447-4119. Application deadline: 4:30 p.m. April 28, 2000. ***** PLANNER IV SUPERVISOR, KITSAP COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT is recruiting for the position of supervisor of the Community Planning section. The Community Planning section of the Department is responsible for long range planning activities related to comprehensive planning, the implementation of the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) and the development of sub area/neighborhood plans. The salary range for the Planner IV position is $4033.47 to $5146.27 per month, DOQ. Minimum qualifications are a bachelor's degree in planning or closely related field and 4 years professional experience in a planning process related to community development including one year in a supervisory/lead capacity. For more information visit the County's website at http://www.wa.gov/kitsap. For an application packet, please contact the Kitsap County Personnel Department at (360) 337-7185. The deadline for submitting an application in order to be considered for this position is April 21, 2000. For more information and packet contact: Kitsap County Personnel, Mailing address: 614 Division St. MS-23, Port Orchard, WA 98366-4676. Kitsap County is an Equal Opportunity Employer. ***** MANAGER OF HEALTH SERVICES, WAHKIAKUM COUNTY seeks energetic individual with strong management, leadership and administrative skills to manage public health department and develop plan for combining County's existing Health Department and Human Services Department. Potential candidate must possess a Bachelor's Degree in health administration or related field and a minimum of 2 years experience in an administrative/managerial capacity. Full position description available upon request. Competitive salary commensurate with education and experience, excellent benefits. Send letter of interest and resume to: Mary Baldwin, Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, PO Box 586, Cathlamet, WA 98612. Telephone inquiries may be directed to Esther T. Gregg, Chairman of Board of County Commissioners, telephone: (360) 795-8084. Closing Date: April 18, 2000 at 5:00 P.M. An equal opportunity employer. ***** PACIFIC COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS - CHIEF SURVEYOR. Minimum qualifications include the knowledge of the principles of land surveying, and the working knowledge of road and bridge construction, as demonstrated by education and/or experience. The position requires the successful candidate to be a registered Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) in the State of Washington, and possesses a valid driver license at the time of hire. Salary range: $2,742 to $3,531 plus benefits, DOQ. Call (360) 875-9368 for application packet and complete position description. Applications must be received no later than 4:30 P.M. on May 5, 2000. This position will remain open until filled. Pacific County is an equal opportunity employer. ***** ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - WHATCOM COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS, Bellingham, WA. Starting salary range $4,789-$5,379/mo. (top of the range $6,015/mo.). Whatcom County seeks an Assistant Director to lead several diverse operational areas including the Maintenance & Operations Division, Equipment Rental Division, Lummi Island Ferry, and the Noxious Weed program. Qualifications include a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or a related field AND 5 yrs. progressively responsible related experience INCLUDING 3 yrs. of management/supervisory experience, OR equivalent. Must possess a PE license at time of hire, and must possess or obtain w/in 1 yr. of employment a WA State PE license. A Master's degree in Business or Public Admin., or related field may be substituted for PE license. Closes 5/1/00. Required application avail. @ (360) 676-6802, M-F 8am-5pm, Bellingham, WA. For details call Job Line: (360) 738-4550, or visit our website at: www.co.whatcom.wa.us. Equal Opportunity Employer. **** END ****