Thurston County panel sets May 20 hearing on two open-space tax applications

The Thurston County Planning Commission on April 15 voted to set a public hearing for May 20, 2026 to accept public comment on two open-space tax program applications: the Gardener Revocable Living Trust and a property owned by Brendan Macau.

Marissa Wisman, a planner with Thurston County Community Planning, told commissioners the Open Space Tax Program is authorized by the Open Space Taxation Act (RCW 84.34) and allows qualifying rural lands to be assessed on the basis of current use rather than highest-and-best use. She said the Assessor’s Office makes the tax determination and the county board administers the program’s enrollment and classification decisions.

Wisman described the Gardener application as a request to enroll 33.37 of 38.47 acres in a farm-and-agricultural conservation classification, excluding about 5.1 acres of forested land. She said the properties have been farmed for roughly 48 years and the owners plan to continue pasture uses, haying and invasive-weed control.

For the Macau application, Wisman said Brendan Macau proposes enrolling about 155 of 159.2 acres. Portions of that parcel are also enrolled in a federal Grassland Reserve Program easement, which increases the public-benefit rating and potential tax reduction. The properties are located near Yelm in the Nisqually River basin, staff said.

Wisman and the materials shown to the commission explained that when a parcel enrolls in the program its assessed value is removed from taxable valuation in affected taxing districts, which slightly raises levy rates for other properties in the same taxing-code area. Using a demonstration prepared by Jeremiah Olsen in the Assessor’s Office, staff said the resulting tax-shift is typically very small — “pennies on the dollar” in the example presented — and invited residents to contact the Assessor’s Office for parcel-specific calculations.

Commissioners discussed eligibility questions raised during public comment, including why parcels previously enrolled with the Assessor might have been removed and the income standards that determine assessor eligibility. Wisman advised applicants who do not currently meet assessor thresholds to consider reapplying if they can document qualifying agricultural activity or to pursue the county program where land-conservation plans and other documentation can support enrollment.

A motion to set the public hearing for May 20, 2026 at 7 p.m. to hear the Gardener Revocable Living Trust and Macau open-space applications was moved and seconded and passed by voice vote. The hearing will allow members of the public to comment before the board takes a recommendation from the Planning Commission.

What happens next: staff will post hearing materials and outreach information for the May 20 hearing; the Assessor’s Office can provide parcel-specific tax-shift examples on request. The Planning Commission did not adopt any ordinance changes at the April 15 meeting; it set the procedural step to collect public comment on the two applications.