Thurston County will collect recent septic permit fees, write off older unpaid accounts

The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously May 26 to recover outstanding Operational Permit Certificate renewal fees from current property owners dating to 2024 and to write off unpaid accounts older than 2024.

Jen Fryheight, director of public health and social services, told the board the county will mail reminder notices and only refer unresponsive accounts to an external collection agency. Fryheight said staff recommended limiting retroactive collection to two years to avoid imposing surprise bills on long-ago owners while still recovering an estimated $117,000 tied to roughly 580 septic systems.

The plan, presented by Fryheight and Season Long, environmental health division director, calls for Environmental Health to assemble a mailing list and finalize policies by the end of the third quarter, start a multi-step notification schedule in the fourth quarter, and engage the county's existing collection contractor if owners do not respond. Season Long said the collection effort will fund ongoing permit-management activities, site follow-ups, self-inspector classes and small grant programs.

Commissioners pressed staff for detail on costs and scope. Commissioner Emily Claus asked whether owners from 2024 might feel blindsided and whether staff expected many disputed claims; Fryheight said the two-year window was chosen because the department has been actively working with owners in that period and that older accounts would be cleared.

Board discussion clarified operational details: staff will send multiple reminders (staff noted a 30/60/90/120-day pattern used elsewhere), calculate actual mailing costs before implementation, and write off uncollectible accounts dating prior to 2024. The board formally moved, with the motion reading in part: “recover portion of outstanding OPC fees on the current property owner since 2024 and write off outstanding accounts receivable older than 2024,” and approved it unanimously.

The decision ends decades of largely reactive enforcement in the septic program, staff said. Environmental Health told the board it will remove written-off fees from the permit database and standardize collection procedures. The board did not establish dollar-by-dollar spending details for the recovered funds but staff said proceeds will support the division’s operational and maintenance activities.

Next steps: Environmental Health will finalize its notification and collection schedule, report back on administrative costs for mailing and collection, and implement the four-step reminder process before engaging an outside collection vendor for nonresponsive accounts.