Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1982 NO. 9 >

(1) Under the provisions of § 6, chapter 8, Laws of 1982, 1st Ex. Sess., the Administrator for the Courts is required, in 1983, to compile a report covering crime victims' compensation penalty assessments paid, or due, during calendar year 1982.(2) A crime victims' compensation penalty assessment is to be paid pursuant to RCW 7.68.035(3), as amended by chapter 8, Laws of 1982, 1st Ex. Sess., upon forfeiture of bail where the offense with which the defendant was charged is either (a) a crime defined by state law which is punishable, thereunder, as a felony or a gross misdemeanor, or (b) a crime defined by a city ordinance which is punishable thereunder as a gross misdemeanor and which, in addition, covers conduct which is the same, or substantially the same, as conduct which is defined to be criminal by state law.(3) A crime victims' compensation penalty assessment is to be imposed under RCW 7.68.035(1), as amended, when an accused individual is found guilty of having committed any crime defined by either a state statute or a county or city ordinance, including ordinary misdemeanors, with the exception of those motor vehicle crimes expressly referred to in subsection (2) of the statute, whether defined by state statute or by a substantially similar municipal ordinance.(4) The penalty assessment provided for by RCW 7.68.035(1), as amended, is applicable in the case of a conviction, on or after March 27, 1982, of a crime committed prior to the date.(5) If a person is found guilty of a number of separate counts contained in the same criminal information, each of which represents a separate and distinct crime, a penalty assessment is to be imposed under RCW 7.68.035(1), as amended, on the basis of each such count.(6) A crime victims' compensation penalty assessment is not to be imposed, under RCW 7.68.035, as amended, on an alleged juvenile offender who has undergone diversion proceedings pursuant to chapter 13.40 RCW.

AGO 2000 NO. 9 >

1.  A municipality lacks authority to expend lodging tax revenues for the support of a tourism-related facility in which the municipality has no ownership interest.  2.  A municipality may expend lodging tax revenues for the support of a tourism-related facility in which the municipality has a joint interest; the degree of support must be proportional to the extent of the municipality’s ownership interest in the facility.

AGO 2006 NO. 9 >

If a fire protection district issues non-voted, limited tax general obligation bonds, and a portion of the district is subsequently annexed by a code city, the fire protection district retains the authority to levy a tax on property in the annexed area for the purpose of repaying its existing bond obligations.

AGO 1998 NO. 9 >

A code city lacks authority to determine, by local ordinance, who shall serve as chair of the city's LEOFF disability board; this subject is pre-empted by state statute.

AGO 1990 NO. 9 >

1.  A registered architect or professional engineer must sign and stamp or seal each individual page containing a building construction drawing, or revision thereto, prepared or reviewed by him or her and submitted or permitted to be submitted in support of an application for a building permit, unless the activities are exempt from the requirement that drawings be signed and stamped or sealed by reason of RCW 18.08.410 or 18.43.130(1)-(7), (9). 2.  In the absence of one of the exemptions in RCW 18.08.410, a person who is not a registered professional architect or professional engineer violates RCW 18.08.310 by preparing a design or construction drawing for a building and submitting that design, or permitting that design or drawing to be submitted, in support of a building application. 3.   Under RCW 18.08.460(1) a local building official may accept a request for a building permit and issue the permit based on a design or construction drawing that does not bear the signature and stamp or seal of a registered architect or registered professional engineer, even if the activities are subject to the requirement that drawings be signed and stamped or sealed.

AGO 1977 NO. 9 >

(1) The 106% limitation on regular property taxes imposed by RCW 84.55.010 does not apply to the taxes levied by a city for the maintenance of its local improvement guaranty fund under RCW 35.54.060.  (2) Property taxes levied by a city for the maintenance of its local improvement guaranty fund, however, may not in any year exceed five percent of the outstanding obligations guaranteed by the fund and further may not, in any event, be in excess of a sum which is sufficient, with other sources of the fund, to pay warrants issued against the fund during the preceding fiscal year and establish a balance therein.

AGO 2003 NO. 10 >

Under RCW 82.02.020, a city may lawfully (1) require an owner seeking a building permit to install sidewalks assuming the city can meet the standards set forth in the statute for imposing such a condition; and (2) offer owners the option of deferring the installation of sidewalks for a reasonable time; and (3) at the end of the deferral period, offer owners several options, including the option of paying the city a specified portion of the cost of installing sidewalks, the money to be used for right-of-way improvements in the city.

AGO 1989 NO. 10 >

1.The 1985 amendments to chapter 2.42 RCW, codified as RCW 2.42.110 through .180 [2.42.180], relate only to interpreter services for the hearing impaired.2.The pre‑1985 portions of chapter 2.42 RCW, codified as RCW 2.42.010 through 2.42.050, apply only to interpreter services for persons with speech defects or non-English speaking cultural backgrounds, except that RCW 2.42.050 applies also to interpreter services for the hearing impaired.3.With respect to criminal proceedings, the government whose officer is responsible for initiating the proceeding, usually the county, is responsible for the cost of providing the interpreter as defined in RCW 2.42.040.

AGO 1980 NO. 10 >

Under RCW 67.28.180, which authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to levy and collect a special excise tax on hotel and motel occupancies, the term "city" includes a municipal corporation of the fourth class, commonly known as a "town," organized and operating under the provisions of chapter 35.27 RCW.

AGO 1955 NO. 10 >

A statute enacted by the state legislature providing that the city council may determine by ordinance whether certain city officials shall be elective or appointive would not constitute an invalid delegation of legislative power under Amendment VII of the Washington Constitution.