OLYMPIA - Mick Hansen, of the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District Board of Directors, is pushing a Senate bill to change voting and property assessment laws for the district.

The bill received a "do pass" recommendation from the Senate Agriculture, Water and Rural Economic Development Committee this week.

Senate Bill 6512 requires any change in property assessments of more than 25 cents per $1,000 of assessment to go before voters.

For voting, the proposal changes the district's election to an entire vote-by-mail process. Voters paying assessments to the district would be required to pre-register once before voting and stay on the list, according to Hansen.

Voters would cast one vote each, instead of the current two votes each per parcel of land owned, according to Hansen.

A corporation or a limited liability corporation would receive two votes per parcel, which would be the same as a married couple, he said.

But an unmarried person owning one parcel of land could only cast one vote, he said.

He is aiming to eliminate the chance of a large landowner carrying the election.

Under the current law, the top 20 property owners in the district could cast more than 2,000 votes by themselves, he said.

Hansen and former Sen. Harold Hochstatter, of Moses Lake, testified in favor of the bill in Olympia this week. Hochstatter is part of Hansen's proposed advisory committee for the district.

But there are some concerns back home about the proposal.

Curt Carpenter, the district's general manager, understands the bill is eliminating the assessment authority on the irrigation district portion, which is what the district was established on in 1928.

The bill is getting rid of the irrigation district and making it a rehabilitation district, Carpenter said.

He said funds will be cut so close, the district will be back to doing nothing, like in the 1970s and 1980s.

The proposal takes a $1.4 million budget to $300,000 or less, he said.

"In this day and age, we won't be able to operate," he said.

The district has a dam that isn't structurally sound, an existing pump station that requires money to remain operational and many contracts it won't be able to fulfill, Carpenter said.

One example is the district's interlocal agreement with the state Department of Natural Resources, referred to as the "Upper Lakes Project." It allows the agencies to deal with invasive vegetation spread by birds, boats, water flows and wind before reaching Moses Lake.

Sen. Janéa Holmquist Newbry, R-Moses Lake, the bill's sponsor, said the bill doesn't limit the district's assessment by eliminating the irrigation portion of the district. It appears past leadership was taxing using both statues and referred to this as a housekeeping issue, she clarified.

The proposal states districts must have a hearing and give ratepayers a vote if taxing above 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, she said.

She called the proposal a "win-win."

"This bill is about bringing transparency, fairness, and clarity to our local elections," she stated. "This bill will also provide taxpayer safeguards by requiring the district to ask property owners' permission before making an increase in assessments over a certain amount."

Ron Covey, a district director, said he couldn't comment on the proposal and was waiting to take part in a conference call with Holmquist Newbry.

He said there was a lot of misinformation that had to be rectified before the bill goes to a vote. He didn't specify what that misinformation might be.

Hansen estimates the bill has maybe a 20 to 30 percent chance of becoming law.

For more information, go online and visit apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.spx?bill=6512&year=2011.