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1 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL AGENDA BILL NO CLEARANCES Initial Date Date Received in Council Office AJ(enda Date Assif(ned to: Originator: Randy Rydel Public Work/Council Division Head: Dept. Head: Jon Hutchings Prosecutor: Dan Gibson Purchasing/Budget: Brad Bennet Executive: Jack Louws RR fl"~ fr r/;r/n [Rl c le ~ ~ tkr ot/31/11 ~ S/sl/11 COUNTY IL '\li-;, /\)\ q/5.17- TITLE 0 F D~~: Resolution authorizing preparation of a re-assessment roll for the Emerald Lake Lighting District # ATTACHMENTS: Proposed resolution and memo. SEPA review required? ( ) Yes (X) NO Should Clerk schedule a hearing? ( ) Yes ( x) NO SEP A review completed? ( ) Yes (X) NO Requested Date: SUMMARY STATEMENT OR LEGAL NOTICE LANGUAGE: (If this item is an ordinance or requires a public hearing, you must provide the language for use in the required public notice. Be specific and cite RCW or WCC as appropriate. Be clear in explaining the intent of the action.) This resolution sets aside the current assessment roll for the Emerald Lake Lighting District #7, dated November 19th, 1987, and directs Public Works to complete a roll re-assessment. Additionally, this resolution will establish a hearing date of October 24th, 2017, with the Council acting as the Board of Equalization to affirm the re-assessment as just and equitable. The Emerald Lake Lighting District pays the electrical bill for street lights within the district. Rising electrical costs have finally exceeded the annual assessment allowed under the 1987 rate cap. The re-assessment will establish a new rate cap allowing for continued full payment of the electrical bills in 2018 and beyond. COMMITTEE ACTION: COUNCIL ACTION: Related County Contract #: Related File Numbers: Ordinance or Resolution Number: Please Note: Once adopted and signed, ordinances and resolutions are available for viewing and printing on the County's website at: whatcom. wa.us/council.

2 WHATCOM COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT jon Hutchings DIRECTOR Administration Civic Center 322 N. Commercial Street, Suite 210 Bellingham, WA Telephone: (360) ):Y_.WW. wh q_i:{;q!jl~o U Jl1'i. U 5 ]Hutchings@co.whatcom.wa.us TO: Jack Louws, County Executive THROUGH: Jon Hutchings, Public Works DirectorHr FROM: Joe Rutan, County Engineer Randy Rydel, Financial Services Manager DATE: August 23, 2017 RE: RID #7, Emerald Lake Lighting District Requested Action: The Department of Public Works requests that the attached resolution be introduced at the September 12th, 2017 Council meeting. This resolution sets aside the current assessment roll for the Emerald Lake Lighting District #7 dated November 19th, 1987 and directs this office to complete a roll re-assessment. The roll is prepared by Public Works; and therefore should not burden the County Treasurer. Additionally, Public Works is prepared to assist the Deputy Clerk of the Council in processing the hearing notices. Timeline: 9112/2017 9/26/ /24/2017 Resolution authorizing the preparation of a reassessment roll for this district and setting the public hearing date of 1 0/24/2017 Resolution confirming council's acceptance of the reassessment roll Council action as Board of Equalization affirming the roll to be just and equitable Background and Purpose: Emerald Lake Lighting District needs re-assessment in order to maintain sufficient funds to continue operating beyond The assessment is currently capped by the 1987 Ordinance No establishing the district. When a cap increase becomes necessary, it has been council practice to set aside old assessment rolls and request a review of the proposed new rolls, before moving on to increase the cap. Prior to new rolls being confirmed, there will also be a public hearing per RCW before the County Council, acting as the County Board of Equalization. Please contact Randy Rydel at extension 6217 if you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter. Encl. cc: Dana Brown-Davis Brad Bennett

3 PROPOSED BY: Public Works INTRODUCTION DATE: 9/12/2017 RESOLUTION NO. AUTHORIZING THE PREPARATION OF A REASSESSMENT ROLL FOR PROPERTY WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF WHATCOM COUNTY ROAD IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 7 (EMERALD LAKE LIGHTING DISTRICT) WHEREAS, on November 19th, 1987, after a public hearing was duly held as provided for in RCW , the Whatcom County Council established the Emerald Lake Lighting District (RID #7) and certified the assessment roll of the district, showing the schedule of apportionment of cost of the Emerald Lake Lighting District; and WHEREAS, it has been determined that the total amount of assessment collected on said roll is not equal to the cost of the present lighting system; and WHEREAS, it is deemed advisable by the Whatcom County Council to set aside said assessment roll as approved on November 19th, 1987, and authorize the preparation of a reassessment of property within the boundaries of said Lighting District. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Whatcom County Council that the assessment roll for Whatcom County Road Improvement District No. 7 shall be set aside and a reassessment of all property within said District is hereby ordered; such assessment shall be prepared by the Whatcom County Engineer and assessment shall be made by the per parcel method, which is deemed by this Council to be the most practicable and equitable under the conditions prevailing. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this and succeeding annual assessments will be based on a Whatcom County Department of Public Works fee of $2.00 per account per year and the actual cost of maintenance and power charges of Puget Sound Energy, but shall not exceed $20.00 per parcel. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Council anticipates receipt and acceptance of the new proposed assessment roll on or about September 26, Page 1

4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a resolution confirming the assessment roll and certifying it to the County Treasurer for collection will be introduced at the Council's September 26, 2017, meeting. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that a public hearing on the certification resolution will be scheduled before the County Council, acting as the County Board of Equalization, on October 24, APPROVED this day of, ATTEST: WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Dana Brown-Davis, Clerk of the Council Barry Buchanan, Council Chair APPROVED AS TO FORM: Daniel L. Gibson, Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Page 2

5 Randy Rydel From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Follow Up Flag: Flag Status: Daniel Gibson Friday, August 11, :29 PM Randy Rydel RE: Birch Bay Lighting District Assessment Cap increase Lighting District Memo - Birch Bay.docx; Lighting District Resolution 1 - Birch Bay.docx; Lighting District Resolution 2 - Birch Bay.docx; Lighting District Memo - Emerald Lake.docx; Lighting District Resolution 1 - Emerald Lake.docx; Lighting District Resolution 2 - Emerald Lake.docx Flag for follow up Flagged Randy: Please see the attached documents that I have reviewed, modified very slightly on some grammatical matters, and approved. From: Randy Rydel Sent: Thursday, August 10, :05PM To: Brad Bennett; Daniel Gibson Subject: Birch Bay Lighting District Assessment Cap increase Brad and Dan, Our Birch Bay Lighting District has assessments capped at $0.30 per lineal front foot. This no longer collects enough revenue to pay the rising electricity bills. I aim to raise the cap and think that I have stumbled upon the correct way to do it following the resolutions used to increase the cap for the Marineland Lighting District in 2009 (Res , Res , Res ). I would love to get your input on whether the attached resolutions are the right way to go. One thing that I found with this is that the Emerald Lake lighting district assessment cap was set in the creation ordinance (Ord ). Does this mean to update the cap we would need to open up that ordinance? Additionally, I cannot find the creation ordinance for the Birch Bay Lighting District. It seems that it was sometime prior to 1975 as that is when the first re-assessment was completed. Therefore, I do not know if this cap resides in an ordinance or the subsequent resolutions. I am open to suggestions on these though they do need to be completed prior to year-end so that the new assessments can go out with 2018 tax bills. Randy Randy Rydel, CPA I Financial Services Manager I Whatcom County Public Works RRydel@co.whatcom.wa.us I Information sent via the Internet may be subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. Whatcom County cannot guarantee that messages will remain private. 1 12:48 PM 8/23/ :48 PM