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Spokane County Noxious Weed Board seeks assessment increase; BOCC to schedule public hearing
Summary
The Spokane County Noxious Weed Control Board requested higher assessments to expand staffing and program capacity; county legal staff said state law requires the county commissioners to hold a separate public hearing on the board’s recommendation and the board placed a hearing on the commissioners’ upcoming agenda.
The Spokane County Noxious Weed Board presented a proposed increase to its assessment rates at the June 24 briefing, asking the Board of County Commissioners to schedule the statutorily required county-level public hearing on the recommendation.
Board representatives said noxious-weed complaints, detections and notice contacts have risen substantially since the assessment’s last update and that the board needs more full-time staff and dedicated project funding to support a countywide eradication, outreach and owner-assistance program. The board described large economic risks from certain species (citing Washington State Department of Agriculture analyses), highlighted recent first detections in the county and said its workload has grown faster than population. The board described plans to increase program capacity, add full-time inspectors and expand seasonal staffing and outreach.
Why it matters: the county’s noxious-weed assessment funds inspections, notices and enforcement and — the board argued — enables eradication of newly detected high-priority species. The board said it has pursued grants in the past and will do so more aggressively if it can commit matching funds from assessments.
Process and next steps: county legal counsel (Mister Riccio) advised the commissioners that state law requires the noxious-weed board to hold its own public hearing and then forward the recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners; the county must then hold a separate public hearing with at least 10 days’ notice. The county clerk was instructed to place the commissioners’ public hearing notice on the next legislative agenda so the BOCC can consider the noxious-weed board’s recommended assessment increase.
Public input and concerns: the noxious-weed board reported limited public comment at its hearing but noted at least one commenter urging stronger communication with right-of-way managers (state and other agencies) to ensure effective control on major corridors, a point commissioners said was relevant to program priorities.
Ending: commissioners directed staff to schedule the required public hearing and asked county staff to ensure the hearing is noticed and the noxious-weed board’s materials are provided in advance.
