The bill authorizes county treasurers to recover allowable prior-year billing, collection, and distribution costs by charging a pro rata cost recovery fee against each taxing district’s tax roll. When calculating the fee the first $50,000 of a district’s annual aggregate collections is excluded, recoverable costs are measured over the prior 12 months, and capitalized expenditures may not be recovered over a period longer than the asset’s useful life. The fee is capped at 1% of a district’s tax roll in counties with more than 250,000 people and 2% in counties with fewer than 250,000 people. Certain items are excluded from recoverable costs, including real estate excise tax administration, local investment pool administration, foreclosure and distraint administration, and other already recoverable costs. County treasurers must notify affected taxing districts of the fee amount by September 1st of the current year. Recovered amounts are to be credited to a county treasurer’s cost recovery fund without regard to budget limitations and are not subject to indirect costs or other charges. Legally, the bill amends RCW 84.69.180 and adds a new section to chapter 84.69 RCW, defining “cost recovery fee” and “recoverable costs,” and it adds reimbursement for these treasurer-incurred costs to the list of purposes for which taxing districts (other than the state) may levy property taxes. Levies made under this authority are not subject to the provisions of chapter 84.55 RCW as provided in RCW 84.55.070. The primary effect is a procedural and funding change: it creates a specific fee authority and collection procedure, establishes accounting and crediting rules, and imposes percentage caps and exclusions. Missing context and uncertainties: the prior full text of RCW 84.69.180 is not provided here for complete comparison; the bill does not specify how the population threshold (larger or smaller than 250,000) is to be determined; “useful life of the asset” is not defined in the provided text; and related RCW sections cited (84.69.020(1), 84.52.018, chapter 84.55) are referenced but their contents are not included.

If enacted, county treasurers would be able to recover their prior-year billing, collection, and distribution costs by charging a small, capped fee to each local taxing district’s property tax roll after exempting the first $50,000 of a district’s collections. That will give treasurer offices a dedicated revenue stream outside normal budget limits to support ongoing tax administration, and treasurers must tell districts the fee by September 1 each year. Capital spending can only be recovered over the asset’s useful life, and certain costs (like real estate excise tax administration and foreclosure work) are excluded from the fee. The most affected parties are county treasurer offices (which gain steadier funding and authority) and local taxing districts such as school, fire, water, and county agencies (which may see higher levy needs to cover the fee). Districts in counties under 250,000 people could face proportionally larger charges because their cap is 2% (versus 1% in larger counties), and taxing districts (other than the state) are explicitly allowed to levy property taxes to pay these costs. It is unclear from the provided text how “larger than 250,000” is determined or how terms like “useful life of the asset” will be applied, and several referenced statutes are not included here.