Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1957 NO. 99 >

Publicly owned land within a library district is subject to the district tax levy beginning on the next assessment date following passage of title into private ownership, provided such land is not included within the corporate limits of a city on March 1 of the assessment year.

AGO 1962 NO. 99 >

When an annexation proposal has been initiated by petition of the residents in the area sought to be annexed to a city or town and is approved by the review board, the board of county commissioners of the county in which the city or town is situated must conduct a public hearing, the notice of which must be published at least in a weekly newspaper in each of the two issues immediately preceding the hearing.

AGO 1962 NO. 100 >

A city or county acting separately or together does not have the authority to impose a flat charge upon each passenger boarding an airplane at a municipal airport which is operated jointly by said city and county.

AGO 1966 NO. 100 >

A city or town may enact an ordinance requiring an insurance agent licensed by the state insurance commissioner to obtain a local license prior to soliciting door-to-door within its territorial limits.

AGO 1955 NO. 101 >

(1) A county has no right of eminent domain to acquire rights-of-way for public highways within city limits.  (2) A fourth class town may dedicate a street through park property provided that the use of the land for street purposes will not be inconsistent with the use of the remaining land for park purposes.

AGLO 1973 NO. 103 >

Criteria to be applied in determining whether a rezone from Forestry Recreation and Residential to Industrial constitutes illegal spot zoning under prior decisions of the Washington Supreme Court.

AGLO 1974 NO. 104 >

A county, and a city situated within that county may both impose the special excise tax authorized by RCW 67.28.180 on statutorily taxable transactions occurring within the city.

AGO 1966 NO. 104 >

(1) A city or town which is participating in the state‑wide [[statewide]] city employees' retirement system may not cover its full-time paid firemen under the provisions of that retirement system because such firemen are eligible to be covered under either the paid firemen's pension system (chapters 41.16 and 41.18 RCW) or the volunteer firemen's pension system (chapter 41.24 RCW).(2) A city or town the fire department of which consists of both full-time paid firemen and volunteer firemen is permitted but not required to provide coverage for its paid firemen under the provisions of the firemen's relief and pension acts of 1947, and 1955 (chapters 41.16 and 41.18 RCW).(3) RCW 41.16.020 does not require that a city or town must have at least three full-time paid firemen before the paid firemen's pension system (chapters 41.16 and 41.18 RCW) can apply.

AGO 1957 NO. 107 >

A town of the fourth class may not annex unplatted property of more than twenty acres without the consent of the owner; and this applies to state‑owned land, as well as to land privately owned.

AGLO 1973 NO. 107 >

(1) Second, third and fourth class cities are required by RCW 35.23.352 to call for bids in connection with the purchase of professional services where the anticipated cost for such services will exceed $2,000, and this statute contains no exception to reflect the possibibility of a conflict between its requirements and a canon of professional ethics which is so written as to prohibit the members of the profession which it governs from responding to a city's call for bids for their service.
 
(2) Counties, code cities and first class cities are not required to bid for professional services and therefore, the governing bodies of such municipalities may exercise discretion in connection with this matter.