Aquifer Tax Collections Stagnant Amount Left Unpaid Takes Money Away From Sewer Construction

Property owners owe Spokane County nearly $1.2 million in overdue taxes to protect drinking water, according to a recent state audit.

The county does little to collect the money as long as the delinquent taxpayer owns the land.

“It all gets collected at the time of the sale of the property,” said Steve Hasson, who supervised the aquifer tax before he was elected county commissioner in 1988.

In fact, Hasson said, he learned his grandmother owed back taxes for the aquifer protection area when he helped her sell her house. The house didn’t get a clean report from the title company until Hasson paid the bill.

“She hadn’t paid her bill for I don’t know how long,” he said. “It was $85 and it was picked up at the time of closing.”

Voters who live over the SpokaneRathdrum Aquifer agreed in 1986 to help pay for sewers that protect the underground water supply from contamination.

Since then, the county has collected more than $21 million through the aquifer tax, which is $15 to $30 for houses and as much as several thousand dollars for businesses. Although collected by the county, the tax is charged inside the city of Spokane, as well as in the Valley and other unincorporated areas.

The delinquent taxes include $43,285 still owed from 1986 and $306,558 owed from last year. The tax was not paid for nearly 14,000 of the county’s 104,000 parcels of land last year.

The total number of property owners with delinquent bills was not available, but 1,390 of them owe $120 or more, according to county figures.

Every dollar left unpaid actually takes $2 away from sewer construction, since local money for sewer construction is matched with state money.

Some county residents with overdue payments may not receive the bills or may mistake them for junk mail. Unless taxpayers request otherwise, the bills are addressed to “resident” and sent to the address of the property, where the owner may not live.

Others simply refuse to pay. County utilities workers received stacks of angry and obscene mail when the first bills were mailed in 1986. They still get a few, said supervisor Janice Clark.

State auditors recommended the county establish “adequate, timely collection procedures” and place liens on properties if the owners are more than 18 months late in paying their taxes.

Hasson and other county officials say most of the aquifer bills are so small, it isn’t worth the cost to file liens.

It costs $75 to file a lien and another $7.50 to notify property owners through certified mail, county officials wrote in response to the state audit.

State law prohibits the county from passing on that cost to the taxpayer.

In extreme cases, the city of Spokane can shut off utilities to residents who don’t pay taxes. The county does not have that authority.