Proposition 7
(Claims and Lawsuits)
Ballot Title
Shall the Seattle City Charter be amended to clarify its provisions governing the filing of claims against the City, and to eliminate a provision, made superfluous by State law, concerning the statute of limitations for the filing of lawsuits; and shall Article IV, Section 24 of said charter be amended accordingly?
Voter-Pamphlet Explanation
The Charter as it Exists Now
Section 24 of Article 4 of the Charter contains provisions governing claims and lawsuits against the City for alleged damages.
Section 24 requires that damage claims be filed with the City Clerk, and describes the required contents of those claims. Among other things, a claim is required to accurately describe the act, omission or defect that caused the "injury or damage…" In addition, the claim must accurately describe the "injury" which is alleged.
Section 24 also states that a lawsuit against the City claiming monetary damages cannot be commenced until a written damage claim has been filed with the City Clerk. Such a lawsuit may not be commenced within 60 days of the filing of the claim with the City Clerk "unless the applicable statute of limitations will expire within the 60-day period." (The statute of limitations is the time limit within which a lawsuit must be filed.)
In addition, Section 24 sets out requirements for the handling of claims and passage of an ordinance allowing a claim, or appropriating money to pay one, if the Council chooses to resolve a claim by passing an ordinance. However, that Charter provision also allows the City Council, by general ordinance passed by a two-thirds majority of all members of the City Council, to provide a different procedure for the "payment" of any claim in any amount as may be prescribed from time to time by ordinance. The Charter as it exists now does not mention a different procedure for the "presentation" of such claims.
The language in Section 24 governing the time for commencement of lawsuits when the statute of limitations will expire within 60 days of the filing of the claim has been made superfluous by state law. Under state law, the timely filing of a claim against the City now "tolls" the statute of limitations (essentially stopping the clock on this time limit) for 60 days. This provision makes it impossible for the statute of limitations to expire within 60 days of the timely filing of a claim.
In addition, the language in Section 24 that requires a claim to accurately describe the alleged "injury" is not consistent with language in that same Charter section requiring that the claim describe the act, omission or defect that caused the "injury or damage."
Finally, that part of Section 24 which states that the City Council may by ordinance provide a different procedure than that described in the Charter for the "payment" of any claim does not clearly state the Council's authority to provide a different procedure for other parts of the claim handling process.
The Effect of the Proposition if Adopted
Section 24 of Article 4 would be amended as follows:
(1) Superfluous language, governing the time for the commencement of lawsuits when the statute of limitations will expire within 60 days of the filing of the claim, will be deleted.
(2) Language requiring a claim to accurately describe the alleged "injury" will be amended to require that a claim accurately describe the alleged "injury or damage," to make it consistent with other language in that same Charter section.
(3) Language which states that the City Council may by ordinance provide a different procedure than that described in the Charter for the "payment" of any claim will be changed to allow a different procedure for the "presentation and payment" of any claim, to clarify the Council's authority to provide a different procedure for the entire claim handling process.