History museum funding

AN ACT Relating to ensuring dedicated funding for history and 1
heritage museums and county historic preservation programs; and 2
amending RCW 36.22.170. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 36.22.170 and 2009 c 337 s 5 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1)(a) Except as provided in (((b))) (c) of this subsection, a 7
surcharge of five dollars per instrument shall be charged by the 8
county auditor for each document recorded, which will be in addition 9
to any other charge authorized by law. One dollar of the surcharge 10
shall be deposited into a designated fund as required by (b) of this 11
subsection, to be used at the discretion of the county commissioners 12
((to promote historical preservation or historical programs, which 13
may include preservation of historic documents.14
(b))), or an advisory board, commission, or program established 15
by the county commissioners for conducting historical preservation 16
activities, for:17
(i) The support of operations and capital expenditures of history 18
or heritage museum facilities owned and operated by municipalities or 19
nonprofit organizations recognized by the internal revenue service as 20
H-0854.1
HOUSE BILL 1658
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Waters, Reed, Chase, Eslick, Scott, Simmons, and
Timmons
Read first time 01/28/25. Referred to Committee on Local Government.
p. 1 HB 1658
described in section 501 (c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1986, 1
as amended; and 2
(ii) Supporting historic preservation activities authorized by 3
RCW 35.21.395 or 36.32.435.4
(b) Each county shall establish a historic preservation and 5
programs fund, held by the county treasurer. Moneys from the fund 6
must be used only as provided in (a) of this subsection.7
(c) A surcharge of two dollars per instrument shall be charged by 8
the county auditor for each document presented for recording by the 9
employment security department, which will be in addition to any 10
other charge authorized by law. 11
(d) For the purposes of this subsection, "history or heritage 12
museum" means a facility open to the public that has, as its primary 13
purpose, the preservation and presentation of the history of the 14
people, land, and state of Washington and the education of the public 15
about this history.16
(2) Of the remaining revenue generated through the surcharges 17
under subsection (1) of this section: 18
(a) Fifty percent shall be transmitted monthly to the state 19
treasurer who shall distribute such funds to each county treasurer 20
within the state in July of each year in accordance with the formula 21
described in RCW 36.22.190. The county treasurer shall place the 22
funds received in a special account titled the auditor's centennial 23
document preservation and modernization account to be used solely for 24
ongoing preservation of historical documents of all county offices 25
and departments and shall not be added to the county current expense 26
fund; and 27
(b) Fifty percent shall be retained by the county and deposited 28
in the auditor's operation and maintenance fund for ongoing 29
preservation of historical documents of all county offices and 30
departments. 31
(3) The centennial document preservation and modernization 32
account is hereby created in the custody of the state treasurer and 33
shall be classified as a treasury trust account. State distributions 34
from the centennial document preservation and modernization account 35
shall be made without appropriation. 36
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p. 2 HB 1658