Dent, Warnick bills would create assessment process for MLIRD
Treating Moses Lake with herbicides that treat for a variety of invasive plants and algae is one of the duties taken on by the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District. The method of paying for the operation of MLIRD was questioned during relatively recently legal action and is now being addressed by legislators in Olympia.
COURTESY PHOTO/MLIRD
OLYMPIA - A bill currently being considered by the Washington State Legislature would change the process for how the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District collects assessments for rehabilitation operations.
“(House Bill 1494) is specifically for Moses Lake,” said State Representative Tom Dent (R-Moses Lake), the primary sponsor of the bill.
The MLIRD is the only irrigation and rehabilitation district in the state of its kind and has assessed fees to property owners in the past, prior to legal challennges.
Referring to a lengthy suit by Mick Hanson against the district, Dent said someone saw an issue with their assessments by MLIRD and felt that the district was levying assessments incorrectly. As a result, the issue was brought into court and Grant County Superior Judge David Estudillo ruled in 2020 that the district could no longer levy assessments under the irrigation portion of state law.
The introductory paragraph of HB 1494 states,”The district was recently involved in litigation in which the way it collected assessments was actually a tax. The legislature finds that it is necessary to align assessment authority with other local special improvement districts in order to provide local funding for improvements to local water quality.”
The issue arose because the MLIRD is governed by two separate sections of state code — one governing irrigation districts, and a second, later law governing irrigation and rehabilitation districts. While the irrigation and rehabilitation district section of the law gives them all the powers of irrigation districts, Estudillo found the MLIRD provided no legal justification for the portion of its levy relating to irrigation because they don’t actually deliver water and therefore ruled the MLIRD had no power to levy under the irrigation district portion of the law.
The bill is also sponsored by Representatives Strom Peterson (D-Edmonds), Debra Lekanoff (D-Bow), Kristine Reeves (D-Federal Way) and Alex Ybarra (R-Quincy).
It is scheduled for an executive session in the House Committee on Local Government on Friday.
Its companion bill, Senate Bill 5460, is sponsored by Senator Judy Warnick (R-Moses Lake).
“We needed to come up to speed, legal speed, (to) be able to assess for the work that (Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District) do on the lake and in the community,” Warnick said in a previous interview.
The bill is sponsored by one other senator, Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim).
The substitute bill passed the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks on Feb. 9 and was referred to the Rules Committee for second reading.
“(This bill) is giving the irrigation district directions on how to assess,” Dent said.
Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.