The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Columbia County Commissioners are considering the formation of two new special taxing districts, including a Flood Control Zone District and a Parks and Recreation Service Area. Both districts, if formed, could generate thousands of dollars annually for special – in many cases critical – projects that would otherwise be challenging to fund.

County Public Works Director Andrew Woods presented a draft report to the board during its Monday workshop this week; no action was taken at the meeting, but Woods was directed to continue work on a final report for consideration. Dollar amounts presented in the draft report have not yet been vetted by the County Assessor’s office.

Several options for forming the districts were presented, including whether to make them countywide, specific to just Dayton or Starbuck, or established only in unincorporated Columbia County.

By law, the citizens of Columbia County can only be levied up to $5.90 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The city of Dayton has come closest to that statutory limit, according to Woods, with just 19 cents left. Unincorporated Columbia County has approximately 45 cents left. The city of Starbuck has $1.97 of levying power left. A countywide taxing district would have to go with the lowest denominator – Dayton – and could only levy that 19 cents.

In discussing the two potential taxing districts, the commissioners agreed that a countywide Flood Control Zone District was most promising. This is because, although available revenue would be lower by more than $100,000 than it would be if Dayton were left out of the district, Dayton’s levy system along the Touchet River is in critical need of work and could only be funded by the tax levy if included in the district. A countywide flood control district would generate an estimated $137,554 annually, according to the draft report.

With a countywide flood control district formed and Dayton’s taxing limit maxed out, the parks and recreation service area could only be established in unincorporated Columbia County – and possibly Starbuck if the city were interested, according to the draft report. This could potentially raise over $140,000 annually, however, to help maintain such county facilities as the golf course and the fairgrounds.

One final point Woods made to the commissioners was that both of these junior taxing districts would be at the bottom of the levy food chain. The state sets taxing district priorities, and nearly all others (schools, hospitals, libraries) are at a higher priority than the two new districts under consideration. The local library district, for example, is not collecting all of the tax revenue it could be, according to Robanske. So if the library district decided to request that additional six cents per $1,000, these two potential taxing districts would be adversely impacted.

The commissioners have discussed forming these taxing districts for months. These particular districts do not require a petition or a vote of the people; the commissioners cannot make a final decision on the matter, however, without a public hearing, Woods explained.

“Well that’s good, because I’m not comfortable raising taxes without any public input,” Commissioner Mike Talbott stated at the meeting. Commissioner Merle Jackson agreed. The chairman, Dwight Robanske, was concerned that the issue would be “kicked” down the road should the public put a lot of pressure on the commissioners – much like the marijuana business issue still under moratorium, he said.

“We were elected to make decisions,” Robanske said. “If it were required to go to a vote of the people, we would do that. But it’s not. There are tough choices to be made, but I think it’s a liability if we don’t correct the issues (that would be funded by the taxing districts).”