PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County will receive more than $300,000 in revenue from timber sales than was projected for 2011, according to a presentation by the Department of Natural Resources to the commissioners earlier this week.
The county is scheduled to receive an additional $327,000 from timber sales, which will be allocated into the general fund, commissioners were told Monday.
This amount is in addition to the $230,000 already projected, giving the county a total of $557,000 from timber sales in 2011.
County Administrator Philip Morley said this amount is part of a “one-time windfall” that adds up to nearly $600,000 the county will receive in 2011.
That includes payment in lieu of taxes for state land taken off the tax rolls and a law and justice reimbursement for expenses incurred during the double-murder trial of Michael J. Pierce in 2010.
Of this, $250,000 will be allocated to debt service, $75,000 to capital repair and maintenance, $169,000 to the funding of a deputy prosecuting attorney position for one year and $100,000 reserved as “revenue stabilization for projected lean years.”
“We’ve had good years and bad years from timber revenue,” Morley said.
“We will use these funds to backfill some of the loss we’ve had from the real estate excise tax, but we want to be prudent managers and put much as we can away for a rainy day.”
The county receives a percentage of the profits from timber sales from forest land that is administered by DNR, with the income often less or more than projected.
DNR gets bids from timber companies for specific areas, and the companies then subcontract for removal of the timber, conforming to guidelines with the purpose of keeping the forests sustainable, according to Olympic Regional Manager Susan Trettevik, who attended Monday’s meeting with three staff members.
At the meeting, Morley asked if the timber could be harvested at a consistent rate in order to provide a predictable revenue stream but was told by assistant regional manager Drew Rosanbalm said DNR attempts to keep the wood flowing out of the forest at a constant rate but cannot modify the production rate to spread out the payments.
DNR projects it will supervise a total of $48,332,211 in gross statewide timber sales during 2011, with $3,082,409 of this in Jefferson County.
This represents a significant increase over the $981,510 collected in 2011.
These monies are received daily by DNR and are remitted to counties at least four times a month, with counties distributing the funds proportionately to the junior taxing districts (fire and schools) that are located in the areas of the timber harvest.
Morley said Monday that the county gets approximately 14 percent of the total amount and has not yet broken down the total amount of the distribution for 2011 and the taxing districts that are receiving these funds.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
