What does Orcas Island get back in return for all the taxes it pays to San Juan County?

The Orcas Park and Rec District discussed this issue at their July 8 meeting. Before asking the community to approve a park and rec district levy, they wanted to examine how taxes already collected by the county help to support Orcas parks.

Chairman Martha Farish presented the board with research from 2007-2009 San Juan County budgets and various county taxing measures. To some extent, she said, the data just isn’t available because the government method of accounting simply tracks how money is spent and not necessarily where that specific money originated.

“San Juan County doesn’t account for itself island by island,” said Farish.

In the past budgets, she said, 36-38 percent of the $4.8 million “County Current” general fund and over half the hotel/motel taxes originated on Orcas.

“In theory, if you believe 36-38 percent of County Current budget comes from Orcas, and the “parks and rec function” comes out of that budget, then you would expect somewhere between 0 and 38% of that budget should benefit Orcas. It doesn’t actually work that way in reality, but… it is hard not to conclude that there is a big disparity between what we ‘should’ get back through the SJCPR system and what we do, in fact, get back,” Farish told the Sounder.

Farish also said assessed values for Orcas properties are currently 10-15% higher than the county’s other islands, assessed in years when real estate was cheaper. Orcas Island’s property tax assessments, made during the 2007 market peak, will not be re-assessed until 2012 due to a software support issue.

“We aren’t the watchdogs for how the county spends; we can’t give a complete answer as to where their money is going,” said commissioner Jim Bredouw. He told the Sounder that once the formation of the district is over, he could see the board spending more time looking into county parks expenditures.

Farish said Orcas taxes already support “a park-like function” for San Juan County, and those taxes will remain regardless of the community’s vote on a separate Orcas park and rec district levy.

Commissioner Bob Eagan said Orcas islanders have the benefit of all the San Juan County parks their taxes support, whether or not they choose to use them.

The county identifies 38 Orcas Island properties as public ownerships, as follows:

two Washington State Parks, two school district; four San Juan County Parks; five Land Bank; nine Department of Natural Resources; 17 SJC public works. County parks include: East Olga County Park, Eastsound Village Green, Library Park and Waterfront Park (also identified as a Land Bank property).

Farish said the only park and rec budget items on Orcas supported by the 2007-2009 county budgets were the Village Green and Orcas Recreation Program, which the county is no longer supporting.

According to SJC Parks and Recreation Director Dona Wuthnow, Waterfront Park is maintained by the Land Bank, and the county pays for half of any improvements and oversees administration. Wuthnow said the county does not actively manage East Olga County Park. Commissioner Ian Lister said Community Foundation volunteers maintain Library Park.

The board also discussed several properties and programs they felt would be jeopardized without support from a park and rec district levy.

Although county administrator Pete Rose in January said the county would continue maintaining the Village Green through 2015, members expressed doubt in the county’s continued ability to fund maintenance. The county is facing cuts of $550,000 to next year’s general fund, and a total of $2.3 million in spending cuts over the next six years.

“The county is going to shrink like we’ve never seen it shrink before,” said Farish. “This county council is holding firm on balancing the budget. By 2012 I expect pressure on the Village Green to be acute.”

She told the Sounder, “We need to build a rock solid program that can withstand economic downturns and capitalize on upswings.”

The board discussed the possibility that both Buck Park and the Village Green could be closed to the public if maintenance money is not found.

“I’d be amazed if the school continued to hang on to (Buck Park),” said Farish. “It’s an expensive item in a budget that’s extremely compromised. That piece of the budget is indefensible from the school’s point of view.”

Bredouw said Funhouse programming also needs support.

He told the Sounder that while the Funhouse is is no immediate jeopardy, it likely would be over the six year course of the taxing district’s upcoming proposal.

“It may take a year or two longer than Orcas Rec. to have serious budget concerns but I believe it will definitely need public support if it’s to survive into 2016,” he said.

In 2009 the Funhouse wrote twice as many grants and received half as much grant money as in any previous year, said director Pete Moe.

Board secretary Ian Lister was assigned to develop a park and rec district levy proposition for the November ballot.

Farish said levy funds collected by the rec district as a junior taxing district, would be spent only on Orcas. She hopes the district will use GAAP (General Accepted Accounting Procedures) accounting to track its finances, saying, “We want to be able to report outcomes based on expenditures.”

The levy proposition will present islanders with an option to support parks and programming targeted by the board.

“Orcas Island, do you want these things and are you willing to pay for them?” said Farish. “Because if not, they’re going to go away.”

For more information on San Juan County’s public lands, see http://sanjuanco.com/parks/prc.aspx, and open “Section IV: Existing resources”.