Walla Walla County commissioners move to prepare ordinances to dissolve two inactive special-purpose districts

Walla Walla County commissioners on Aug. 25 directed staff to prepare ordinances to dissolve an inactive irrigation district and a small flood-control district after public hearings showed the entities met state criteria for inactivity.

The action follows a public hearing on four junior taxing districts that county staff said had not met state reporting and auditing requirements. The commissioners said Tusche Valley Irrigation District Number 16 and the Waitsburg flood-control district meet the statutory tests for inactivity and asked the clerk to work with the prosecuting attorney to draft dissolution ordinances. Commissioners left Mud Creek Irrigation District Number 7 and Loudoun Irrigation District Number 2 intact for now and told their representatives to contact the Washington State Auditor’s Office to pursue audit remediation.

Karen (county staff) reviewed the law and the county’s obligations under state statute, citing RCW 36.960.01 et seq., and explained the county’s limited role in bookkeeping for junior taxing districts. She told the board that a district declared "unauditable" by the state auditor loses routine access to county processing…