Opinion ID: 1215856
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: power to enact claims ordinances

Text: In 1967, the Legislature enacted RCW 4.96.010, which abolished the doctrine of sovereign immunity for the political subdivisions of the state. This statute and RCW 35.31.030, however, require that as a condition precedent to maintaining an action in court, an injured party must comply with the applicable claims filing laws. These laws, including SMC 5.24.005, typically require that an injured party file a claim with the political subdivision, describing the accident, the party's current address, and the amount of the claim. Certain claims statutes and ordinances have been subject to attack in recent cases. RCW 35.31.020, which required that claims be filed with certain cities within 120 days of the date of the accident, was held to be unconstitutional by this court because it arbitrarily shortened the amount of time in which an injured party could bring an action against the State or its political subdivisions. Equal protection requires that a party have the same amount of time to bring a tort action against the government as he or she would have to bring the action against a private tortfeasor. Hunter v. North Mason High Sch., 85 Wn.2d 810, 539 P.2d 845 (1975); Jenkins v. State, 85 Wn.2d 883, 540 P.2d 1363 (1975). Not all claims filing laws, however, were invalidated. Claims filing laws serve the important function of fostering inexpensive settlement of tort claims. So long as the procedural burdens of filing claims with the government are reasonable, the claims laws are valid. Hall v. Niemer, 97 Wn.2d 574, 581, 649 P.2d 98 (1982). At issue in this case therefore, is whether Seattle's claims ordinance was validly enacted and does not impose an unreasonable procedural burden. RCW 35.31.010 mandates that claims filed with charter cities such as Seattle must contain certain information, such as the current residence of the claimant. RCW 35.31.010 provides, in part: Whenever a claim for damages sounding in tort against any city permitted by law to have a charter is presented to and filed with the city clerk ... in compliance with valid charter provisions thereof .. . such claim must contain in addition to the valid requirements of the city charter ... a statement of the actual residence of the claimant ... The plaintiffs argue that this statute not only requires that certain information be included in the claim, but also mandates that any claims filing requirement be contained in the city charter. Seattle has a charter, but the charter does not contain a claims filing provision. Instead, that provision is contained in an ordinance, and the plaintiffs assert that this is impermissible. The plaintiffs rely on the holding in Amende v. Bremerton, 36 Wn.2d 333, 217 P.2d 1049 (1950) for this proposition. In Amende, the plaintiff sued the City of Bremerton (a charter city) to collect on some municipal bonds. Despite the fact that this suit was not brought in tort, the court held that the plaintiff was making a claim for damages and must comply with the applicable claims section. The court then held that since no state statute required a claim to be filed, and since Bremerton did not have any charter provision regarding claims, the claim for damages could proceed. Amende, at 338. The case did not decide, however, whether a Bremerton claims filing ordinance would have been valid. [1] The City contends that neither RCW 35.31.010 nor the holding in Amende mandates that the only method of enacting a valid claims filing provision would be by amending the city charter. We agree. The purpose of RCW 35.31.010 is to ensure a claimant provides the City with his or her current address. While the wording of the statute indicates that the claim must be in compliance with valid charter provisions ..., it does not explicitly require that the claims filing provision be found in the charter itself. Moreover, as mentioned above, the Amende case did not decide whether Bremerton could have validly enacted a claims filing ordinance. Article 4, section 15 of the current Seattle charter imparts on the city council broad legislative powers. The City shall, in addition to the powers enumerated in this Charter, have all other powers now or hereafter granted to or exercised by municipal corporations of like character and degree ... and may exercise the same by ordinance and not otherwise. This court has repeatedly held that first class cities such as Seattle may enact any ordinance which does not contravene the constitution, state statutes or the city charter. Chemical Bank v. WPPSS, 99 Wn.2d 772, 792, 666 P.2d 329 (1983); Winkenwerder v. Yakima, 52 Wn.2d 617, 622, 328 P.2d 873 (1958). Since none of these provisions preclude Seattle from enacting a claims filing law by ordinance, the ordinance was validly enacted.