Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 2008 NO. 6 >

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 2013 NO. 6 >

 

 

  1.  The reference to the “most recently published regional power plan” in RCW 19.285.040(1)(a), which was enacted as part of Initiative Measure 937, refers to the Pacific Northwest Electric Power And Conservation Planning Council power plan in existence at the time the statute was enacted.
  2. The term “methodologies” in RCW 19.285.040(1)(a) means a set of methods or procedures employed in the solution of a problem.
  3. The phrase “conservation calculator” in WAC 194-37-070 refers not only to the calculator employed in the power plan in existence at the time RCW 19.285.040 was enacted, but also refers to calculators based on the most recently published power plan.
  4. RCW 19.285.040(1)(b) requires a consumer-owned utility to review and update its achievable cost-effective conservation potential every two years, including any necessary update to biennial targets based on new information.

 

AGO 2000 NO. 6 >

Where a first-class city has amended its charter to create new officer positions, and the charter amendments provide that the initial special election to fill the new positions will occur in conjunction with the state primary and general election in an even-numbered year, RCW 29.13.020 permits the conduct of a city special election under these circumstances.

AGO 2006 NO. 6 >

The presence of a quorum of the members of a city or county council at a meeting not called by the council does not, in itself, make the meeting a “public meeting” for purposes of the Open Public Meetings Act (RCW 42.30); the Open Public Meetings Act would apply if the council members took any “action” (as defined in RCW 42.30) at the meeting, such as voting, deliberating together, or using the meeting as a source of public testimony for council action.

AGLO 1981 NO. 7 >

(1) Monies in a prior municipal firemen's pension fund may now lawfully be used for the payment of service retirement, disability retirement and other pension benefits to qualified members of the former paid firemen's pension system and, as well, for the payment of hospitalization costs and other medical expenses incurred by firefighters covered by the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' System Plan I.

AGO 1988 NO. 7 >

Where counties, cities, and towns charge fees for short plats in amounts designed to cover the actual cost of administering a regulatory program, such fees are authorized by statute and are not an improper form of taxation. However, where fees for short platting are designed to raise revenue over and above the actual costs of administering the regulatory program, the fees are a form of taxation in excess of the local government's statutory taxing power.

AGO 1997 NO. 7 >

1.Under RCW 35A.12.020, a mayor-council city operation under the optional municipal code may, by charter provision or ordinance, opt either to appoint a city attorney or to procure legal services by contract.2.Where a code city has determined to obtain legal services by contract, the contract for professional services may specify the term of the contract and may define who will have authority to amend or terminate the agreement, provided that the contract is consistent with any charter provisions or ordinances on the subject.3.A city council, in entering into a contract with a law firm to provide legal services for the city, may not require that the city council exclusively direct how legal services will be provided; the mayor and other administrative city offices are entitled to obtain legal services as needed for the performances of their duties. 

AGO 1996 NO. 7 >

RCW 35.13.360 through .400 do not entitle sheriff's employees to transfer to the police department of a city which, having incorporated prior to the effective date of those statutes, but having contracted with the county for law enforcement services for several years, then (subsequent to the enactment of the statutes) forms its own police department.

AGO 1998 NO. 7 >

1.  When an air pollution control authority is comprised of a single county, the member representing the largest city in the county is not required to be an elected official or an employee of the city. 2.  When an air pollution control authority is comprised of a single county, the city selection committee is not obligated to select, as the representative on the authority of the largest city in the county, a person nominated or designated by the city's mayor or city council.

AGO 1984 NO. 7 >

Because the First Avenue South Bridge in Seattle is a part of the state highway system, and not a county road, RCW 36.83.010 does not authorize King County to form a service district as a financing tool for improvements and/or new construction relating to that specific bridge.