Weed board trims increase request down to $6.25

Rejection may be difficult for most people to handle.

But members of the Noxious Weed Control Board aren’t letting it stand in the way.

With a nod two weeks ago from the county council, the weed board will be back before the council on Jan. 5, seeking support for a pared down proposal and a bump of about $6 in the so-called “parcel fee” that funds the local program of prevention, control and, in some cases, eradication of noxious weeds and poisonous plants. The council voted 5-1 to consider the scaled-back request.

The weed board trimmed about $2 off its previous proposal after it was rejected five weeks ago by the council, which at that time was missing one of its six members. It failed to gain enough votes at the mid-November public hearing even though three of five councilmen voted in favor of it. Four council votes are required for any measure to be approved.

Initially, the weed board had sought an increase of roughly $8.10 per parcel. It has now been scaled back to $6.25, which would generate about $77,000 a year, or $33,000 less than the initial proposal.

Created a dozen years ago, the weed board, a panel of five volunteers, oversees operations of the noxious weed control program, a regimen of prevention required by the state, and prepares its yearly budget. The program had spotty success its first six years as an operation manned solely by volunteers. Over the past six, it has gained ground in achievements and popularity thanks largely to a $5 parcel fee enacted in 2002 by the former county commission. That fee, approved by voters as an advisory ballot, generates roughly $75,000 a year and pays for two part-time employees and all program equipment and expenses.

Without council approval, however, the parcel fee remains as is and the amount of revenue available to the program stays nearly stagnant. The $5 fee (slightly more for parcels of 50 acres or more) generated $73,000 in its inaugural year. A year ago, it produced $75,750 in revenue, a net increase of less than 4 percent over that five-year period.

If approved, Amanda Azous, chairwoman of the weed board, said the proposal now on the table would mean most property owners would pay about $3 more a year for noxious weed prevention countywide. She noted about 85 percent of local property owners would pay $12.50 or less a year, 65 percent would pay $9.30 and that 42 percent would pay $7.50 or less.

Though one position would remain part-time, she said a smaller-sized increase would keep the program afloat and is far better than the prospect of none at all.

“It enables us to restore the program to where we were two years ago,” Azous said. “It leaves a little money left over for special projects, like weed pulls, and possibly for organizing our volunteers a little better.”

Councilman Rich Peterson, San Juan North, who voted against the previous proposal, said he intends to do the same on the next. Peterson said he supports the program, but would prefer that voters weigh in on any proposed increase in the parcel fee prior to approval by the council.

Councilman Gene Knapp, Orcas East, also voted against the $8.10 proposal. At the November hearing, Knapp said he couldn’t support raising fees for weed prevention at a time when the council was considering cutting jobs and reducing hours of about 20 county employees. Though he voted to consider a smaller increase, Knapp asked to have at that time a tally of the fallout on the workforce from budget cuts to help guide that decision.