Drafter
Clerk 04/01/2010
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AN ORDINANCE creating the King County historical preservation and historical programs fund; amending Ordinance 12076, Section 9, as amended, and K.C.C. 4.08.015 and adding a new section to K.C.C. chapter 4.08.
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PREAMBLE:
In 2005, the state Legislature passed House Bill 1386, which became Chapter 442, Laws of Washington 2005, and which increased the document recording surcharge under RCW 36.22.170 and specified that one dollar of the surcharge was to be used at the discretion of the county commissioners "to promote historical preservation or historical programs, which may include preservation of historic documents."
In a 2008 audit requested by the council, the county auditor determined that King County properly accounted for revenues generated from the increased recording surcharge and used the discretionary portion of the surcharge revenues for authorized purposes.
However, the auditor noted the county had not designated the historic preservation surcharge account in the general fund as a restricted account, making it difficult to track the use of the surcharge revenues.
In 2009, in Ordinance 16579 the council created the historic preservation and historical programs advisory task force to explore how to use the surcharge. In the task force’s final report submitted on March 1, 2010, the task force's recommendations included "creation of a dedicated first tier account to provide for the receipt of revenues and disbursement of expenditures for the $1 recording fee surcharge."
This ordinance creates a dedicated fund that allows surcharge expenditures to be clearly tracked.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
NEW SECTION. SECTION 1. There is hereby added to K.C.C. chapter 4.08 a new section to read as follows:
There is hereby created the King County historical preservation and historical programs fund to provide for the receipt of revenues and the disbursement of expenditures of the one dollar surcharge to prom...
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