PORT TOWNSEND — Despite vocal opposition, a $5 annual fee to fund a clean water district will be assessed on county parcels, the three Jefferson County commissioners decided Monday.
Besides Port Townsend and Port Ludlow, which have their own sewer systems, timber parcels without homes and low-income seniors are exempt.
The fee is expected to generate about $88,000 on top of $33,000 from the county general fund to match state grants earmarked for improving water quality in shellfish-growing areas.
Study pollution
Neil Harrington, county water quality programs manager, said the funding will go toward studying sources of pollution in shellfish tidelands, including fecal coliform and stormwater runoff contaminants and septic systems.
The funds will also be used to fence off cattle, educate homeowners about proper use of septic systems, monitor water quality and identify pollution from septic systems and correct it.
The county is already seeking funding for clean water projects in Discovery Bay, Mats Mats Bay, Chimacum Creek and Hood Canal.
The Clean Water District was established in 2007 without a fee, following outcry against the $18 annual per-parcel fee then proposed.
“The general fund is no longer able to provide this level of subsidy,” a memo from Harrington and Public Health Director Jean Baldwin to the commissioners and county Administrator Philip Morley states.
Quality downgrades
The county must keep shellfish waters clean to avoid state Department of Health water quality downgrades that could lead to closure of commercial shellfish beds.
The shellfish beds produce an estimated $20 million in Jefferson County business a year.
“This fee would go toward what it is intended for,” Harrington told the commissioners.
That was of little comfort to eight of the 10 who testified against the proposal during the commissioners’ hearing Monday.
“If you do tax us, all the responsible people of the county must feel the pain,” said Dick Bergeron, representing Chimacum Grange.
Resident Jim Hagen said the proposal was around in 2006 “when a budget train wreck was already in sight.”
Hagen said pollution from human sources only amounts to 5 percent of the problem, and Port Townsend and Port Ludlow should not be exempt from the fee.
Resident Tom Thiersch said he did not receive any county service that indicated he would benefit from the district.
George Yount of Port Townsend, representing the Washington Environmental Council, said the council supported a fee that was triple the amount proposed.
“It is clear that our commitment to keeping our waters clean and safe is what the citizens of Jefferson County desire,” Yount said.
Pat Pearson, Washington State University Port Hadlock extension water quality agent, called the fee “nominal.”
“We are going to learn more about the cause, but the only way to do that is to find money to provide the research,” he said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
