AGO Opinions

AGO 2008 No. 6

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:00:00 GMT

A city, county, and university have the authority to enter into an interlocal agreement under which the city would contract to use the services of the university’s extension program with the county to provide educational programs and other services concerning the potential effects of climate change.

AGO 2008 No. 5

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:00:00 GMT

1. A county health board may lawfully order the fluoridation of a water supply system owned and operated by a public utility district and located within the county’s jurisdiction. 2. Subject to constitutional requirements, a county health board may lawfully order a public utility district to fluoridate a discrete portion of the PUD’s water supply system. 3. A county health board may enact a regulation requiring the fluoridation of water supply systems generally but, subject to constitutional requirements, a generally applicable regulation is not prerequisite to the issuance of enforcement orders on the subject. 4. A county health board may lawfully order the fluoridation of a water supply system where the order is contingent upon a third-party source of funding for the fluoridation process.

AGO 2008 No. 4

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:00:00 GMT

The licensing exemption provided in RCW 19.28.091(1) applies to any entity employed by a utility to perform the type of work described in the statute, whether the electrical work is performed by the prime contractor directly or by a subcontractor.

AGO 2008 No. 3

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

If a taxing district gains voter approval for a multi-year property tax levy lid lift as permitted by RCW 84.55.050 and does not specify that the levy is for a limited period of time or for a limited purpose, subsequent levy lids will be calculated using the actual amount levied by the district in the final year of the period covered by the levy lid lift, adjusted thereafter by the statutory limit factor and by any additional factors applicable under the law.

AGO 2008 No. 2

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

1. RCW 79.64.110(3) allows a school district to transfer surplus state forest land revenue in its debt service fund to a district capital projects fund, to the extent that such funds have not been pledged or are not otherwise necessary to satisfy the district’s bond obligations. 2. For purposes of applying RCW 79.64.110, the Department of Natural Resources and the State Treasurer may be a source of records sufficient to determine how much forest land revenue has been credited to each school district in a given period of time.

AGO 2008 No. 1

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

1. The Growth Management Act (GMA) does not apply directly to a site-specific decision such as siting a wetlands mitigation bank, although the GMA applies to the development regulations and comprehensive plans. 2. Certification of a wetlands mitigation bank by the Department of Ecology does not legally obligate a county to issue required permits for the bank. 3. The Department of Ecology’s certification of a wetlands mitigation bank does not make the Growth Management Act (GMA) or the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) inapplicable. 4. The substantive provisions of the Growth Management Act (GMA) do not apply to the Department of Ecology’s certification of a wetlands mitigation bank.

AGO 2007 No. 8

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:00:00 GMT

The sales tax deferral program established in RCW 82.60, providing sales and use tax deferrals to investments in “manufacturing” activities in rural counties, does not extend to the activities of Internet companies assisting customers in searching the Internet for data or information.

AGO 2007 No. 7

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:00:00 GMT

When a school district is dissolved and all of its territory is transferred to another district effective August 31, 2007, and when the transferred territory is made subject to excess levies approved by the receiving district before the transfer, the transferred territory is included within the receiving district’s tax base for the levy made in 2008 to be collected in 2009, but not earlier.

AGO 2007 No. 6

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:00:00 GMT

1. Where a combination of cities and fire protection districts enters into an interlocal agreement under RCW 39.34 and forms a nonprofit corporation under the authority of that act to carry out cooperative activities, the corporation would qualify as an “employer” for purposes of the LEOFF Retirement System Plans 1 and 2, to the same extent as the government entities responsible for creating the corporation. 2. Where a combination of cities and fire protection districts enters into an interlocal agreement under RCW 39.34 and forms a nonprofit corporation under the authority of that act to carry out cooperative activities, the corporation would qualify as an “employer” for purposes of the PERS Retirement System Plans 1, 2, and 3, to the same extent as the government entities responsible for creating the corporation.

AGO 2007 No. 5

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:00:00 GMT

1. RCW 48.02.065(1), making certain records provided to the Insurance Commissioner privileged and confidential, is mandatory and does not grant the Commissioner discretion to release the records in response to a public disclosure request. 2. The confidential and privileged status conferred by RCW 48.02.065(1) and (6) extends to working papers, documents, materials, or information disclosed in the course of a financial or market conduct examination to a contractor or consultant acting under the direction of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. 3. Records rendered confidential and privileged under RCW 48.02.065 remain confidential and privileged, even if the Insurance Commissioner does not issue any financial or market conduct examination report relating to such records.

AGO 2007 No. 4

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:00:00 GMT

If a weapon, as originally manufactured, did not meet the statutory definition of a “shotgun,” then the weapon is not a “short-barreled shotgun” for purposes of state law, either as originally manufactured or as later modified.

AGO 2007 No. 3

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:00:00 GMT

1. A pawnbroker or second-hand dealer in the business of purchasing scrap metal for recycling and remanufacture is not required to follow the reporting requirements of RCW 19.60.020 and .040 to the extent the pawnbroker or second-hand dealer is dealing with “metal junk” as defined in RCW 19.60.010(2), because of the exemption set forth in RCW 19.60.085(4).

2. The existing definitions of “metal junk” and “second-hand property” in RCW 19.60.010 are not broad enough to include all metal that might be purchased for further processing and recycling.

AGO 2007 No. 2

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Where an air pollution control authority is coterminous with a county, and portions of the county are within an Indian reservation, and the EPA directly sets air quality standards within the reservation pursuant to federal law, cities and towns lying within the reservation are still fully subject to property taxation and statutory assessments for the expenses of the air pollution control authority.

AGO 2007 No. 1

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 08:00:00 GMT

1. The Department of Fish and Wildlife may not require hydraulic project approval permits under RCW 77.55.021 to regulate planting, growing, or harvesting of farm-raised geoduck clams by private parties. 2. The planting, growing, and harvesting of farm-raised geoduck clams would require a substantial development permit under the Shoreline Management Act if a specific project or practice causes substantial interference with normal public use of the surface waters, but not otherwise. 3. Where a geoduck clam culture project would require a substantial development permit, the local government and the Department of Ecology would have a variety of enforcement options available; in some cases, conditional use permits might also be used to regulate this practice.

AGO 2006 No. 19

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

An increase in salary generally payable to all current firefighters, such as additional payment to all firefighters for qualifying as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), is “basic salary” for purposes of calculating the pensions of firefighters retired under RCW 41.18; by contrast, employer contributions to a deferred compensation plan would not meet the “basic salary” definition of the same statute.