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MRSC FOCUS › Inquiry of the Week (05/29/00)
 
Inquiry of the Week (05/29/00)

Inquiry of the Week (05/29/00)

Question:

Does RCW 58.08.040, requiring a deposit to cover anticipated taxes and assessments for plats, apply to short plats?

Answer:

No, at least according to AGO 1975 No. 12. RCW 58.08.040 states in part as follows:

Prior to any person recording a plat, replat, altered plat, or binding site plan subsequent to May 31st in any year and prior to the date of the collection of taxes in the ensuing year, the person shall deposit with the county treasurer a sum equal to the product of the county assessor's latest valuation on the property less improvements in such subdivision multiplied by the current year's dollar rate increased by twenty-five percent on the property platted.
In AGO 1975 No. 12, the attorney general's office concluded "that the word 'plat' in the opening phrase of RCW 58.08.040 does not refer to short plats or short subdivisions filed pursuant to RCW 58.17.060."