Process for Reorganization
Excerpted from Code City Handbook, MRSC Report No. 37 Revised, June 2009
A. Process for Reorganization
The following steps are required for the reorganization of a noncharter code city under a different authorized plan of government.
1. Time Restrictions
RCW 35A.06.030 limits a noncharter code city's ability to abandon the plan of government under which it operates by establishing time restrictions on when a change may be initiated.
a. Reorganization Without Reclassification
A noncharter code city wishing to reorganize to a different authorized plan of government (without reclassification) must satisfy certain time requirements, namely:
i. It must have operated for more than six consecutive years under one of the optional plans of government authorized under Title 35A RCW (either the mayor-council plan authorized by Ch. 35A.12 RCW or the council-manager plan authorized by Ch. 35A.13 RCW); or
ii. It must have operated for more than a combined total of six consecutive years under a particular plan of government both as a code city and under the same general plan immediately prior to becoming a code city.
b. Reorganization and Reclassification
A noncharter code city wishing to reorganize and reclassify may only do so if it meets the following time restrictions:
i. It has been a noncharter code city for more than one year; or
ii. It has operated for a combined total of more than six consecutive years under a particular plan of government both as a code city and under the same general plan immediately prior to becoming a code city.
There is one exception to time limit provisions. RCW 35A.06.030 provides that a city seeking to adopt a charter is not bound by the time limits set out above. Thus, for a city that did not initially organize as a charter code city, an "early" reorganization to become a charter city would be possible, once the original organization was complete.
If the city meets the time restrictions discussed above, it may proceed with the adoption of another plan of government.
2. Initiation Process
Abandonment of one plan of government and adoption of another plan authorized for noncharter code cities may be initiated in one of two ways: by resolution for election or by petition for election [RCW 35A.06.040].
The resolution for election process is begun by the passage of a resolution by the city's legislative body, proposing abandonment of its present plan of government and the adoption of another named plan. [Ibid.] The petition for election method is begun by submitting the same proposals in petition form. [Ibid.] The petitions must be signed by registered voters in number equal to not less than ten percent of the votes cast at the last general municipal election.
If either the resolution or petition proposes a plan of government other than those authorized by chs. 35A.12 RCW (mayor-council) and 35A.13 RCW (council-manager) of the Optional Municipal Code, the resolution or petition must specify the class under which the city is to be classified upon adoption of the plan [RCW 35A.06.040].
3. Plans Available for Selection Without Reclassification
RCW 35A.06.030 provides in part that a qualifying noncharter code city "may abandon [its] organization and may reorganize and adopt another plan of government authorized for noncharter code cities," that is, either the mayor-council plan (Ch. 35A.12 RCW), or the council-manager plan (Ch. 35A.13 RCW).
4. Plans Requiring Reclassification
While reorganization to another plan of government not set out by the Optional Municipal Code is possible, selection of such a plan would require the city to both reorganize and reclassify. [See RCW 35A.06.030.] RCW 35A.06.030 provides in part as follows:
When a noncharter code city adopts a plan of government other than those authorized under Title 35A RCW, such city ceases to be governed under this optional municipal code and shall be classified as a city or town of the class selected in the proceeding for adoption of such new plan, with the powers granted to such class under the general law. (Emphasis supplied.)
If a city proposes to proceed in that manner, the resolution or petition to reorganize must specify the class under which the city will be classified upon adoption of the plan. [RCW 35A.06.040]
5. Election Required for Reorganization
[See RCW 35A.06.050.]
Once a petition for reorganization has been determined to be sufficient, or a resolution proposing government plan abandonment and reorganization has been approved, the legislative body must provide for an election on the issue of reorganization.
The election on the reorganization issue may be held at the next general election in accordance with RCW 29A.04.330 or at a special election held prior to the general election puruant to the resolution of the council. The ballot title and the statement of the proposition are to be prepared by the city attorney. [See also, RCW 35A.29.120.]
6. Effective Date of Reorganization
[See RCW 35A.06.060.]
If a majority of the voters approve the reorganization, the city's reorganization will become effective, when the change is from the council-manager to the mayor-council plan, upon the election, qualification, and assumption of office of the mayor and, when the change is from the mayor-council to the council-manager plan, upon the certification of the reorganization election. If the plan selected is one not authorized by the Optional Municipal Code, the city reverts to the classification selected and ceases to be a code city upon the election, qualification, and assumption of office by the officers required under the new, reorganized plan.
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