PORT TOWNSEND — The debate over creating a clean-water district is back.
A proposed ordinance amendment before the Jefferson County commissioners would create a district to monitor and improve the health of the county’s water.
It would also adopt a new, annual tax to fund the district.
If the ordinance amendment is approved, a $5 annual fee per parcel of land owned in East Jefferson County — excluding the West End, Port Townsend and Port Ludlow — would be added to residents’ property taxes in 2010.
The next step is a public hearing, which commissioners scheduled Aug. 10 at 11 a.m. in the commissioners’ chambers in the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
Written comments can also be submitted until Aug. 5 and may be sent by e-mail to jeffbocc@co. jefferson.wa.us, by mail to P.O. Box 1220, Port Townsend, WA 98368 or in person at the county courthouse.
Neil Harrington, water quality manager for Jefferson County, said the creation of the district and the fee are both allowed under state law and would free up money from the county’s general fund, which is being used to monitor and improve the county’s water.
“It would raise $88,000 for the county to keep the programs going,” Harrington said.
“It would also remove the general fund from the equation.”
The money from the general fund is being used to match state grant money. With the creation of a district, the grant money match and programs monitoring water health would continue.
A clean-water district would pay for pollution prevention systems, animal grazing and manure management practices and water quality monitoring in marine waters.
Commissioner David Sullivan, D-Cape George, said the decision to create a new district is a difficult one to make.
“We spoke about this before,” Sullivan said.
“It proved to be a difficult situation, and that’s why we’ve continued to fund this out of property taxes and out of the general fund.”
In 2007, a countywide $18 annual per-parcel fee proposal met with adamant opposition from property owners.
Opponents said the fee was regressive and overly burdensome on those who own several parcels.
At that time, the commissioners voted instead to form the state-mandated district without a funding fee.
The district was adopted Oct. 17 without a funding mechanism.
The state Department of Health had required the county to form a shellfish protection district in Discovery Bay because of fecal coliform bacteria pollution.
The southern portion of the bay had been downgraded to restricted status for harvesting shellfish.
The Jefferson County Department of Environmental Health extended the proposal to cover all of East Jefferson County.
In 2008, a new $4- and $1-per-parcel fee proposal was recommended by a county-appointed task force. Under that plan, county residents would have paid $4 per parcel, and $1 per parcel would have been charged for Port Townsend and Port Ludlow master-planned community residents, who are served by separate sewer systems.
That idea died when the Port Townsend City Council balked paying into the county fee.
According to the staff report on the ordinance amendment, the idea was reintroduced in part because “a declining county general fund is not able to match current grants to ensure protection of water quality.”
For more information or to view the proposal, visit the county health department Web site at http://www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
