NO. 13-1030 BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SPOKANE COUNTY, WASHINGTON IN THE MATTER OF MODIFYING SPOKANE) COUNTY CODE SECTION 1.14.030 REGARDING) THE CLASSIFICATION OF LAND FOR THE) NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PURPOSE OF NOXIOUS WEED CONTROL) ASSESSMENTS AND OTHER MATTERS) RELATED THERETO) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Board of County Commissioners of Spokane County, Washington ("Board"), pursuant to the provisions of RCW 17.10.240, that a public hearing will be held on: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013, AT 5:30 P.M. (or as soon as possible thereafter) at COMMISSIONERS' ASSEMBLY ROOM SPOKANE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS BUILDING 1026 W. BROADWAY AVENUE SPOKANE, WASHINGTON 99260 BACKGROUND Pursuant to the provisions of RCW 17.10.040, Spokane County has created the Spokane County Noxious Weed Control Board ("SCNWCB"). The SCNWCB is governed by five (5) voting members appointed by the Board of County Commissioners of Spokane County. The purpose of the SCNWCB is to limit economic loss and adverse effects to Spokane County's agricultural, natural and human resources due to the presence and spread of noxious weeds. Each activated noxious weed control board shall annually submit a budget to the county legislative authority for the operation of their weed program for the ensuing fiscal year. The funds necessary for the operation of the county's weed program come from an annual assessment based on the classification of land and a level of assessment for each classification. The Board of County Commissioners adopted an ordinance classifying lands for purposes of assessments and a level of assessment for each classification. The Ordinance is found in Spokane County Code Chapter 1.14. As a result of the ability to more accurately categorize land for the purpose of assessments, the SCNWCB held a public hearing on September 25, 2013 and as a result thereof recommended to the Board that Spokane County Code Section 1.14.030 be modified to more accurately classify lands for the purpose of assessments. PURPOSE OF PUBLIC HEARING The purpose of the above scheduled public hearing will be for Board of County Commissioners to consider public testimony and take action on the modification of Spokane County Code Section 1.14.030 as recommended by the SCNWCB to provide as follows: ******************************** (Underlined language added to section, lined out language deleted from section.) 1.14.030 - Classification of land-Assessment. (a)In accordance with RCW 17.10.240, the land in Spokane County identified below shall be classified as follows: (1) Class 1, all platted land; (2) Class 1: 2, all tracts of unplatted developed land All land within the unincorporated area of Spokane County as of April 1, 2003, as well as land within the City of Spokane Valley and City of Liberty Lake, to include subsequently annexed land, that is classified as soil Class II, soil Class III, or soil Class IV in the most current designation made by USDA Soil Conservation Service and State of Washington Department of Natural Resources data. (3) Class 2: 3, all tracts of unplatted undeveloped lands All land within the unincorporated area of Spokane County as of April 1, 2003, as well as land within the City of Spokane Valley and City of Liberty Lake, to include subsequently annexed land, that is classified as soil Class V, soil Class VI, soil Class VII, or soil Class VIII in the most current designation made by USDA Soil Conservation Service and State of Washington Department of Natural Resources data. (4) Class 3:4, All land or parcels within the unincorporated area of Spokane County as of April 1, 2003, as well as land within City of Spokane Valley and City of Liberty Lake, to include subsequently annexed land, which derives no special benefit, such as one-foot strips, cul-de- sacs, parcels or lots that are utilized for county or public road purposes and are exempt from general property taxes. (zero assessment). (b)The Spokane County noxious weed control board, finding that noxious weed control is of special benefit primarily to unplatted lands Class 1 and Class 2 land within the county district the unincorporated area of Spokane County , as of April 1, 2003, as well as land within the City of Spokane Valley and City of Liberty Lake, to include subsequently annexed land, also resolves that the above classes of land in county districts shall be assessed as follows: Land ClassificationAssessment Level (1) Class IAll platted parcels outside of incorporated cities or towns. (Assessed: $3.00 (platted acres)per 15 acres parcel or fraction thereof. $.12 per acre. A minimum billing of $2 3.00 will be charged on platted parcels assessed for each parcel account maintained by the Spokane County Assessor's Office. * (2) Class IIAll improved land outside of incorporated cities or towns, as classified by (improved acres)the Spokane County Assessor, including soils in classes II, III, IV, which are classified by the Soil Conservation Service as suitable for cultivation. (Assessed: $.12 per acre. $.06 per acre. A minimum billing of $23.00 will be assessed on improved land classifications for each parcel account maintained by the Spokane County Assessor's Office.* (3) Class IIIAll unimproved land outside of incorporated cities or towns, as classified by (unimproved acres)the assessor, which includes mostly timber or pasture land in soil classes VI and VII which are classified by the Soil Conservation Service as not considered suitable for cultivation. This includes timbered soils in classes II, III, IV, rights-of-ways, parts, etc. (Assessed $.06 per acre. A minimum billing of $2.00 will be assessed on unimproved land classifications.) Zero assessed (c)The terms "developed" and "undeveloped" land are intended to be the same as those used by the county assessor in classifying and assessing land for general tax purposes. *Provided, if a parcel account maintained by the Spokane County Assessor's Office contains multiple classes of soil as designated by the USDA Soil Conservation Service and Department of Natural Resources data, each soil class shall be separately assessed. The assessment for each soil class shall be added and if the total assessment is less than $3.00, the parcel account shall be assessed a $3.00 assessment. If the total assessment for the parcel account is greater than $3.00, the parcel account shall be assessed in the total amount for each soil classification. For example, if a parcel account contains 10.2 acres of which 10 acres is in soil Class II and .2 acres are in soil Class V, soil Class II would be assessed at $.12 per acre for a total of $1.20 and soil Class V would be assessed at $.06 per acre for a total of $.012. If each soil class were assessed the minimum assessment, the total assessment of the parcel account would be $6.00. However, since the individual soil class assessments added together equal $1.21, which is less than $3.00, the total assessment of the parcel account would be $3.00, not $6.00. *********************** Any person may appear at the date, time and place set forth hereinabove and present testimony in favor of or in opposition to the proposed modification to Spokane County Code Section 1.14.030. The Board has concluded that the proposed modification is exempt from the State Environmental Policy Act and the Spokane County Environmental Ordinance pursuant to WAC 197-11-800(15)(b) and (20). To ensure that everyone attending the public hearing has an opportunity to speak, testimony may be limited to three (3) minutes per speaker. The Board reserves the right to adjust the time frame allotted to speakers as well as hearing procedures during the public hearing. Any person desiring additional information on the proposed modification may contact Dave Mundt, SCNWCB Coordinator, at 222 North Havana Street, City of Spokane Valley, Washington 99202 / (509) 477-5777. All meetings and hearings will be conducted in facilities which are accessible to disabled individuals. For more particular information with respect to the accessibility of the Public Works Building, Commissioners' Assembly Room, please contact Daniela Erickson, Clerk of the Board, at (509) 477-2265. DATED this 12th day of November 2013. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SPOKANE COUNTY, WASHINGTON SHELLY O'QUINN, Chair AL FRENCH, Vice Chair TODD MIELKE, Commissioner ATTEST Daniela Erickson Clerk of the Board SR27046
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