Local Funding - Rates and Charges

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The San Juan Islands Conservation District is undergoing a process in 2025 to update its system of rates and charges affecting San Juan County property taxpayer rates. Please read below for more information. 

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SJICD Local Funding

The San Juan Islands Conservation District (SJICD) is an independent state agency established in 1947 under Chapter 89.08 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) to assist landowners and agricultural producers to protect and enhance natural resources, including but not limited to soils, water quality and quantity, forests, fish, and wildlife. The District is a non-regulatory agency that supports private and public landowners with what are often free services helping to steward local lands for local outcomes prioritized by local residents. SJICD serves all islands within San Juan County and works with hundreds of landowners each year supporting healthy natural resources that benefit all.

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Beginning in 2020, the District and San Juan County established a System of Rates and Charges as allowed by Chapter 89.08.405 RCW. Rates and Charges are authorized to be imposed for conservation districts to fund activities and programs declared to be of special benefit to lands to conserve natural resources and may be used as the basis upon which special assessments are imposed. The RCW authorizes the legislative authority of the county in which the conservation district is located to accept the proposed assessment for a period not to exceed ten years in duration. The San Juan County Council did so in 2020 a 10-year period at the maximum allowable rate of $5 per parcel and no more than $.10 per acre. Rates cannot be increased without authorization from the State Legislature, the SJICD Board of Supervisors, and the Board of County Commissioners.

 

​In 2025 the state legislature passed SHB 1488 increasing the maximum annual per-parcel rate charge to $25 per parcel for all counties. Also, beginning March 1, 2029, the Department of Revenue (DOR) must adjust the maximum annual per parcel rates based on the consumer price index for all urban consumers, all items, for the Seattle metropolitan area, as calculated by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency. The adjusted maximum annual per parcel rates must be rounded to the nearest dollar. If the adjustment to the maximum annual per parcel rate is negative, the maximum annual per parcel rate for the prior year continues to apply.

 

​In 2025, SJICD seeks to renew the local funding collected through a system of rates and charges and increase the per parcel rate to $25 per parcel. If approved, property owners within San Juan County would see a $20 increase in their annual bill starting in 2026. The funds are still collected through the property tax statements sent by the County.

 

The Value of Local Funding

The addition of local funding to the SJICD budget in 2026 will provide a significant level of stability as it supports the continuity of basic operations and allows SJICD to address local priorities for which grant funding is lacking, unpredictable, and time-consuming to obtain. In just the past year, there have been budget crises, including major shortages of state funding and the withdrawal and closure of huge federal grant programs.

 

At the current $5 per parcel rate, SJICD receives only $88,000 from this predictable funding source of local Rates and Charges – less than 3.5 percent of the overall $2.5 million budget – which is otherwise comprised of over 30 unique grants and diverse funding sources. For every dollar received from local property taxes, SJICD obtains over $30 in grants that are returned as community services and ecological restoration. An increase to $25 per parcel would provide $440,000 at a cost just over $2 per month to the average San Juan County landowner.

 

The Current Funding Need

Increased funding through rates and charges would help cover significant budget shortages being experienced in programs including, but not limited to the Youth Conservation Corps, Island Conservation Corps, Forest Health and Community Wildfire Resilience:

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• Forest Health and Community Wildfire Resilience – loss of state funding in 2025 resulting in a budget cut of roughly $700,000 for the next two year cycle. This program includes the popular Wildfire Ready Neighbors program and provides free technical services to landowners and funding for projects that improve forest health and wildfire resilience, including forest thinning, noxious weed removal, home hardening, and habitat restoration.

• Islands Conservation Corps – loss of state and federal AmeriCorps program funding in 2025 resulting in increased costs of $200,000 per year ($20,000 per month over a ten month program).  The Islands Conservation Corps is a field-based ecological restoration program where students are simultaneously enrolled in courses at Western Washington University's College of the Environment to train the next generation of landscape planners. Members work as a team of restoration technicians 30 hour per week addressing critical ecological challenges in archipelago forests, woodlands, prairies, wetlands, and riparian area while taking coursework that supports their theoretical and professional understanding of landscape planning. First-year members are enrolled in post-baccalaureate and graduate coursework in a pathway to the Landscape Planning track in the Master of Arts in Urban Planning and Environmental Sustainability at Western Washington University (WWU). Courses support students in understanding the tools and mechanisms for landscape planning in a variety of ecosystems, landscape history, and methods for successful project design.

• Youth Conservation Corps – loss of state and federal funding from 2022-2025 resulting in an annual budget gap of $80,000. The Youth Conservation Corps has provided healthy outdoor work and experiential learning opportunities for hundreds of youth in San Juan County since 2007. YCC crew members solve ecological problems throughout the islands each year, gaining insight, accountability, career skills and a conservation ethic that lasts a lifetime. Youth crew members work closely with conservation professionals and partner education programs on stewardship/restoration projects, inquiry-based experiential outdoor education, and professional development. In doing so, YCC members gain applied job skills and training that can help propel them into their future.​

 

The Appeal Process

If a new system of Rates and Charges is approved by San Juan County Council, the District Board of Supervisors must pass a resolution establishing a process for landowner appeals of rates and charges as applicable to a parcel or parcels. Any person subject to rates may appeal a rate by applying in writing to the District. 

 

​Timeline of the Adoption of a System of Rates and Charges, 2025-2026

• July 2, 3:30pm SJICD Board of Supervisors approved a Rates and Charges Resolution at a special meeting outlining the proposed system to be provided to San Juan County for review.

• July 25, 9:00am As required by RCW 89.08.400, SJICD Board of Supervisors will host a public hearing on the proposed system of Rates and Charges.

• Before August 1 - As authorized by the SJICD Board of Supervisors, the Executive Director will file the system of Rates and Charges and other appropriated documents with the office of San Juan County Council. 

• Fall of 2025 – San Juan County Council will host a separate Public Hearing to obtain public comment on the proposal. County Council will adopt, or amend and adopt, the proposal.

• January 2026 – New system of Rates and Charges goes into effect.

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