PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County raised property taxes by the allowable 1 percent for several county funds and is looking to update its fee schedule for several departments.
At their regular meeting Monday, the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners unanimously approved the constitutionally allowable 1 percent Ad Valorm tax levies for the general fund; county roads and conservation futures fund.
Commissioners also heard an update from several departments that have updated their fee schedules, some of which were decades old, and set a public hearing to approve those updates for Nov. 27.
The combined increases will net the county roughly an additional $140,000 annually with the total levy for the county general fund now at $9.1 million, $5 million for the road fund and $278,000 for the conservation futures fund.
Commissioners also voted to move $620,000 from the road fund to the general fund to be used on traffic law enforcement services in unincorporated areas of the county.
Jefferson County Assessor Jeff Chapman said most counties in the state increase their property taxes by the allowable 1 percent each year, but other taxing districts in the county, such as the port, the public utility district and the hospital district often don’t.
State law allows counties that do not raise their taxes by the allowable 1 percent to later enact higher taxes through what’s called “banked capacity.”
District 1 Commissioner Kate Dean noted the tax increase enacted Monday only constituted the county’s portion of property taxes, and that there are several other levies from other taxing bodies that contribute to the total tax burden.
Also Monday, commissioners took steps to update fee schedules for various departments with the county, some of which have not been updated in many years.
“A lot of fee schedules that in the code are antiquated and not accurate,” said Barbara Ehrlichman, civil deputy prosecuting attorney.
Commissioners passed an ordinance in June allowing them to change the fee schedule, Ehrlichman said, and departments have been reworking their fees since. Fees for the parks department and solid waste have already been updated, Ehrlichman said, and following the update of fees discussed Monday, the Department of Community Development, animal control and public works right of way still need to be updated.
Of the five departments discussed Monday, only two made changes to the fees they’re charging.
The sheriff’s department, Public Records Act administrator and Superior Court clerk made no changes to their fee schedules while the county clerk and Department of Environmental Public Health did.
Jefferson County Auditor Brenda Huntingford said the fees in the code previously did not represent what the department was actually charging for certain services. Huntingford said the department made changes to fees charged for survey maps, copies and record of monument fees.
The Department of Environmental Public Health is increasing its fees by 6.01 percent across the board, said Director Pinky Mingo, reflecting an increase in costs for the department. Since 2020, the department has raised wages by 19 percent, Mingo said, in addition to consumer price index cost increases.
The updated fees were not adopted Monday, but commissioners set a public meeting for Nov. 27 to approve the changes. All updated fees will go into effect in January.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
