Public Land Set-Asides Face Voters Tax Earmarked For Natural Areas Up For Renewal

Backers of a Spokane County property tax hope voters think about cedar trees, beaches and deer trails when they cast ballots next month.

The county purchased those and other natural assets in the three years since commissioners approved a conservation futures tax and began adding $6 onto the annual property tax bill for a $100,000 house.

The county has collected about $3.6 million so far. It has spent about $1.7 million to purchase 507 acres at four sites across the county. Under state law, the land must remain natural.

The parcels included a grove of cedar trees that were slated for logging; 8 acres along a migration route for deer; a mile and a half of remote Long Lake shoreline; and 2 acres near Riverside State Park. An anonymous donor gave another 48-acre parcel to the county under the conservation futures program.

Voters will decide Nov. 4 whether to extend the tax for another five years. It’s an advisory vote, but commissioners have promised to comply.

The tax, which will raise close to $1 million this year, costs property owners 6 cents for every $1,000 in assessed value. If it is repealed, the county will have no other way of buying large parcels of land.

While tax issues are never a sure thing in Spokane County, this one may come as close as any. There is no opposition group.

The campaign group Coalition for the Future has endorsements from the Sierra Club and Inland Northwest Wildlife Council as well as the Spokane Association of Realtors and the county’s two chambers of commerce.

“There are people on the endorser list who don’t even speak to each other,” said campaign manager Lunell Haught.

One group that’s not on the list is the Spokane Home Builders Association.

The association doesn’t oppose the tax, said its lobbyist, Suzanne Knapp, but it is lobbying the Legislature to let counties use the money to develop parks and maintain parks - uses now prohibited.

“Why buy more land when we can’t even maintain what we have?” Knapp asked.

Supporters agree the county spends too little on maintaining parks. But money for conservation shouldn’t be used for that purpose, they contend.

The natural lands add little to Park Department expenses because there are no lawns, sprinkler systems, swing sets or buildings, said Randy Knight of the Spokane Mountaineers.

“For the most part, it’s set-aside property,” he said.

While he hasn’t said how he’ll vote, county Commissioner Phil Harris cautions that when government buys land, it cuts its own revenue. Private land is taxed; public land is not.

Continuation of the tax won’t guarantee that parcels ranked high by a volunteer committee will be purchased. The county works only with willing buyers and can’t pay more than the appraised value, Knight said.

Land at tiny Baileys Lake near Deer Park was ranked high by the committee and was one of the first properties the county considered after commissioners approved the tax.

“We came too late; it was already platted into lots,” said Wyn Birkenthal, county parks and recreation manager.

The county twice attempted to buy land near the park-starved Gleneden neighborhood north of the Little Spokane River. One parcel was logged before negotiations ended and the other was developed into housing lots.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: The Conservation Futures Program

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT IT MEANS If voters approve, county commissioners say they’ll continue the conservation futures property tax for another five years. The tax is 6 cents for every $1,000 in assessed property value. The money is used to buy land that must be kept natural.

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Dan Hansen Staff writer Staff writer Kathy Mulady contributed to this report.