Clallam Conservation District seeks $5 per-parcel charge; outlines programs at risk and public hearing plan

The Clallam Conservation District asked the County Board of Commissioners on Aug. as part of a work session to support adoption of a local rates-and-charges program that would levy a per-parcel fee capped at $5 to create a more stable revenue stream for the district.

Kim Williams, district manager at the Clallam Conservation District, said the district now operates with six staff (4.25 full-time equivalents) and that most of the district’s roughly $1.1 million annual budget comes from grants. “We run really tight budgets because we are pretty much 90% grant funded,” Williams said.

The district’s consulting analysis found a budget gap of about $158,750 in the coming year and proposed a per-parcel charge to recover part of that shortfall. Williams said the consultant and district calculated 39,791 billable parcels after applying exemptions for federal properties, mobile home improvement properties, parcels under $500 in value and the county’s senior/disabled exemption. The district is targeting a $5 per-parcel rate with the stated goal of filling its funding gap without producing a large net…