City of Seattle v. County of King

416 P.2d 84, 68 Wash. 2d 811, 1966 Wash. LEXIS 812
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJune 16, 1966
DocketNo. 38371
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 416 P.2d 84 (City of Seattle v. County of King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Seattle v. County of King, 416 P.2d 84, 68 Wash. 2d 811, 1966 Wash. LEXIS 812 (Wash. 1966).

Opinion

Donworth, J.

This is a companion case to Kirkland v. Steen, ante p. 804, 416 P.2d 80 (1966), which was argued at the same time. Our decision in that case should be read in connection with this opinion since both cases involve the [812]*812same statute (RCW 35.86.010 et seq.), although there are some factual differences between the two cases.

The present case was instituted by the city of Seattle, a city of the first class (herein referred to as the city), against King County and its county treasurer (herein referred to as the county), seeking a declaratory judgment that certain real property owned by the city and described in its amended complaint be declared exempt from any obligation to pay moneys in “lieu of real estate taxes” as demanded by the county treasurer under RCW 35.86.070.

It is alleged in the amended complaint that in 1964 and again in 1965 the county treasurer caused certain “real estate tax statements” (copies being attached thereto) to be delivered to the city comptroller relating to certain real estate owned in fee by the city, purporting to require it to pay to the county treasurer certain designated sums “in lieu of taxes” for “parking facilities.” The parcels of land referred to in- the tax statements and the respective methods and purposes by which and for which they allegedly had been acquired by the city are as described below.

Five separate parcels of land are involved in this case and are described in the amended complaint. For convenience, they are designated -as A, B, C, D, and E.

Parcels A and C are the site of the Seattle Center Parking Facility. See Hilliard v. Seattle, 63 Wn.2d 401, 387 P.2d 536 (1963). One portion of parcels A and C was purchased by the city in 1953 for general purposes pursuant to ordinance No. 81643. The remainder of parcels A and C were acquired by condemnation in 1953, pursuant to ordinance 'No. 86033 “as a site for the civic center development” contemplated by ordinances No. 85404 and No. 85774.

Parcel B was alleged to have been acquired by the city .partly by purchase, street vacation, and tax foreclosures, . and is undér the jurisdiction of the Seattle Transit Commis- ■ sión. • The remainder of parcel B was the only portion acquired subsequent to 1959. This property was acquired- by condemnation in 1960, pursuant to ordinance No. 89294, [813]*813which authorized its acquisition for garage and storage yard purposes of the municipal transporation system.

Parcel D was also acquired partly by condemnation pursuant to ordinance No. 89294 for transit purposes and the remainder by street vacation.

■The remaining parcel (E) was alleged to have also been acquired under ordinance No. 86033 (as were parcels A and C) for use (inter alia) as a site for a civic center. Only a portion thereof has been used for parking purposes.

In the concluding paragraph of its amended complaint, the city alleged:

That the property referred to in paragraphs IV, V, VI, and VII hereof is exempt from taxation under Article VII, Section 1 of the Constitution of the State of Washington as amended by the Fourteenth Amendment thereto and to require payment by The City of Seattle of moneys “in lieu of taxes” violates said provisions of the Constitution of the State of Washington.

The city prayed for relief as follows:

1. The Court enter its judgment declaring the tax statements referred to herein to be null and void and that the City has no obligation to pay such statements.
2. That the plaintiff be granted such other relief as the Court may deem fit and proper.

The county’s answer to the city’s amended complaint was as follows:

Defendants admit all allegations of fact set forth in the Amended Complaint except that defendants state that the areas for which the billings in lieu of taxes were made are only those shown on attachment A and B annexed hereto.

Each party moved for summary judgment in its favor. The city did so on the ground that “the pleadings filed in this case show that the plaintiff is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”

The county’s motion stated:

Defendants make this motion for summary judgment of dismissal of the amended complaint, and for grounds state RCW 35.86.070 is a valid act of the State Legislature exacting a sum of money or an excise, inherent in the sov[814]*814ereignty of the State of Washington or authorized by Article 11, Section 12 of the State Constitution, such money not being for the special benefit of plaintiff.
Defendants rely upon the amended complaint, their answer thereto and the request for admission unanswered.
Memorandum of authorities is tendered herewith.

The trial court, after considering the pleadings and certain other documents in the record, denied the county’s motion for summary judgment and granted the city’s motion.

The court entered its declaratory judgment, which recited in substance that:

1. There was no genuine issue of material fact.
2. Parcels A and C were not subject to the payment of money “in lieu of taxes” because the property had not been acquired pursuant to Laws of 1959, ch. 302. Parcels B, D, and E were not subject to the payment of money “in lieu of taxes” for the same reason.
3. The several real-estate tax statements described in the complaint which the county treasurer submitted to the city comptroller in demand for payment of specific sums of money, were null and void.'
4. The parcels 'are exempt from real property taxation or payments in lieu thereof under Const, art. 7, § 1 (amendment 14) and RCW 84.36.010.

The county appealed from this judgment and makes three assignments of error in its brief as follows:

1. The trial court erred in determining that RCW 35-.86.070 levied a general ad valorem real estate tax on municipal off-street parking facilities of plaintiff and therefrom determining plaintiff is exempt from the exaction of excise, and the action should have been dismissed.
2. The trial court erred in not determining that RCW 35.86.070 is an excise or license fee imposed by the legislature to facilitate the use of state and local highways and streets, and is not within the prohibition of Article 11, Section 12, and the action should be dismissed.
3.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
416 P.2d 84, 68 Wash. 2d 811, 1966 Wash. LEXIS 812, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-seattle-v-county-of-king-wash-1966.