Formation of Mosquito Control Districts

Contents

• Overview
• Petition Method
• Resolution Method
• Hearing Notice
• Hearing
• Election to Form District
• Election Expenses
• Election to Levy General Tax for One Year

See Also Sample Documents Relating to the Formation of Mosquito Control Districts

Overview

A mosquito control district may be initiated either by resolution of board of county commissioners/councilmembers or by petition of the voters. A hearing determines public necessity, and an election is held to vote on the district's creation and a tax levy for its first year of operation. Provisions for creating a district are found in RCW 17.28.020 -.100.

Petition Method (RCW 17.28.020 - .040)

• Petition contents
• A petition to form a district may consist of any number of separate instruments.
• A description of the boundaries of the proposed district.
• A request to be organized as a mosquito control district
• Signatures of registered voters of each unit of the proposed district, equal in number to not less than ten percent of the votes cast in each unit respectively for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.
• A petition to form a district is to be presented at a regular meeting of the county commissioners/councilmembers of the county in which the greater area of the proposed district is located.
• A city or town may be included as a part of the proposed district, but its governing body must pass an authenticated resolution requesting inclusion.
• The county auditor has 30 days to determine sufficiency of the number of signatures on the petition.

Resolution Method (RCW 17.28.050)

• County commissioners/councilmembers may also initiate a district by resolution of intention.
• The resolution shall describe the boundaries of the proposed district, set a time and place at which they will consider the organization of the district, and state that all persons interested may appear and be heard.

Hearing Notice (RCW 17.28.040 - .060)

• Upon receipt of a certified petition, the board of commissioners/councilmembers has the text of the petition published along with not more than five of the names attached to the petition, the number of signers of the petition, and the time and place of hearing.
• The notice needs to be published once a week for at least three consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the county where the petition is presented and at each city included in the proposed district.
• If any portion of the proposed district lies in another county, the petition and notice shall be published in that county as well.
• If the county commissioners/councilmembers initiate the formation by resolution, the resolution of intention shall be published in the same manner as the petition method set above.

Hearing (RCW 17.28.060 - .080)

• At the hearing on the proposed mosquito control district, the county commissioners/councilmembers shall hear those appearing and all protests and objections to the district formation and consider the organization of the district.
• The commissioners/councilmembers may adjourn the hearing from time to time, not exceeding two months in all.
• At the final hearing, the county commissioners/councilmembers shall make such changes in the proposed boundaries as are advisable, and shall define and establish the districts boundaries.
• At the hearing on the petition, the county commissioners/councilmembers must determine whether the public necessity or welfare of the proposed territory and of its inhabitants requires the formation of the district and determine whether the petition complies with the statutory requirements. To reach these determinations the comissioners or councilmemebers shall hear all competent and relevant testimony that may be offered.

Election to Form District (RCW 17.28.080 - .090)

• If public necessity or welfare require the formation of the district, the board declares its findings, fixes the boundaries, selects an appropriate name for the proposed district, and calls a special election to be held in not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days.
• The notice of election is published in a similar manner as the for notice of the formation hearing.
• The election on the formation of the mosquito control district shall be conducted by the auditor of the county in which the greater area of the proposed district is located in accordance with the state's general election laws.
• The auditor conducting the election may appoint an auditor from any county or the city clerk of any city lying wholly or partially within the proposed district as his or her deputies.
• No person shall be entitled to vote at such election unless he or she is a qualified voter under the laws of the state in effect at the time of such election and has resided within the mosquito control district for at least thirty days preceding the date of the election.
• The ballot proposition shall be in substantially the following form:

Shall a mosquito control district be established for the area described in a resolution of the board of commissioners [or councilmembers] of . . . . . . county adopted on the . . . . day of . . . . . . , 20. . . ? YES . . . . . . . . . . . [] NO . . . . . . . . . . . . []

• If a majority of the persons voting on the proposition vote in favor of the district, the mosquito control district is established.
• Certified copies of the order establishing the district are to be provided to all counties embracing the district and filed with the secretary of state

Election Expenses (17.28.090)

• If a majority of the persons voting on the proposition vote in favor of the district, all expenses of the election shall be paid by the mosquito control district when it is organized.
• If the proposition fails to receive a majority of votes in favor, the expenses of the election shall be borne by the respective counties in which the district would have been located in proportion to the number of votes cast in those counties

Election to Levy General Tax for One Year (RCW 17.28.100)

• At the formation election, voters are also asked for their approval or rejection of a proposition authorizing the mosquito control district, if it is formed, to levy at the earliest time permitted by law on all taxable property located within the mosquito control district a general tax, for one year, of up to twenty-five cents per thousand dollars of assessed value in excess of any constitutional or statutory limitation for authorized purposes of the mosquito control district.
• The proposition shall be expressed on the ballots in substantially the following form:

ONE YEAR . . . . . . CENTS PER THOUSAND DOLLARS OF ASSESSED VALUE LEVY Shall the mosquito control district, if formed, levy a general tax of . . . . . . cents per thousand dollars of assessed value for one year upon all the taxable property within said district in excess of the constitutional and/or statutory tax limits for authorized purposes of the district? YES . . . . . . . . . . . [] NO . . . . . . . . . . . . []

• The proposition must be approved by a 60 percent majority of the persons voting on the proposition to levy such tax in the manner set forth in Article VII, section 2(a) of the Constitution of this state.