Thurston Conservation District runs into another hurdle in tax collection effort

An embattled local agency that works on land management and conservation issues has run into another hurdle, this time having to do with hearing notice requirements.

The Thurston Conservation District has been plagued in recent years by infighting on its board and accusations of mismanagement. It has been trying for more than a year to change the way it collects local money, moving from a flat fee for landowners to one that varies depending on land use, since some land uses see more benefits from the agency.

Under its proposal, starting next year, landowners would be charged between $3 and $5 per parcel plus 1 to 10 cents per acre per year.

State law says the change must be approved by the Thurston County Board of Commissioners, who must hold a public hearing. Notice of that hearing must be published for two consecutive weeks in the county’s newspaper of record and posted “conspicuously in at least five places throughout the conservation district,” according to the law.

Dozens testified at a Sept. 25 hearing on the change and more than 200 written comments were submitted, according to a county spokeswoman. But this week, the county learned it missed posting requirements — it only published one notice of the hearing in The Olympian — and will have to hold another hearing.

“It was an administrative oversight,” said county spokeswoman Meghan Porter.

A second hearing has been scheduled for 5 p.m. Nov. 20. Comments and testimony from the September hearing will be considered as part of the November hearing and do not have to be resubmitted.

County commissioners are expected to vote on the change the following week.

The hearing hiccup was the latest challenge for the district.

Thurston Conservation District tried to make the change in 2017 but not enough board members were present at a meeting to finalize it, and the district went without local tax revenue for 2018.

Meanwhile, the Washington State Conservation Commission, which oversees local conservation districts, has suspended state funding to the district until board members can comply with the state’s accountability and performance standards.

The state commission will hold a public hearing Dec. 7 to consider the removal of Eric Johnson and Richard Mankamyer from the board. An investigation earlier this year found the two failed to respond to a public records request, delayed or refused to sign district checks, and prevented the release of board meeting minutes, among other things.

At a Thurston Conservation District board meeting Tuesday, members failed to approve two grants the district had been awarded worth more than $544,000 from the state’s Department of Health and Department of Ecology. In a letter to the board read at the meeting, staff wrote that by not accepting the grants, members were “putting the district’s services and ability to operate in jeopardy and risking the district having to shut its doors.”

The Nov. 20 public hearing before the Thurston County Board of Commissioners will be held at the at Thurston County Courthouse, 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia, Building 1, Room 280.