PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson Board of County Commissioners approved a trio of 1 percent tax increases to levy funds for 2020.
The unanimous decision was made after a public hearing Monday morning during the regular meeting in the commissioners’ chambers of the Jefferson County Courthouse.
The ad valorem tax levies for 2020, the diversion of the road levy for traffic law enforcement for the 2020 general fund and a letter setting the 2020 real and personal levy and refund amounts to the county assessor’s office were split into five separate motions. The commissioners passed each motion individually, although all the information and comments from the hearing were presented all at once.
State statutes limit levy tax increases to 1 percent without requiring a ballot measure, county administrator Philip Morley said.
The general fund levy will have a 1 percent tax increase, in addition to any amounts from new construction, improvements to property, refunds, net cancellations/supplementals and increases to state assessed property.
The 2020 general fund levy has a value of $8,208,756.09, which is an increase of $81,274.81 from 2019 as a result of the increases, commission documents stated.
The Jefferson County road levy will have also have a 1 percent increase in taxes, as well as any amounts from new construction, improvements to property, refunds, net cancellations/supplementals and increases to state assessed property.
The 2020 road levy will have a total amount of $4,584,135.39, which is a $45,387.48 increase from 2019, commission documents said.
The Conservation Futures tax levy will see a one percent increase in taxes, in addition to any amounts from new construction, improvements to property, refunds, net cancellations/supplementals and increases to state assessed property.
The 2020 futures tax levy will have a total amount of $246,145.67, which is a $2,437.09 increase from 2019, commission documents said.
All the amounts of the levies could increase due to additional projects. The total amount at this time only factors in the 1 percent tax increases, commission documents said.
The diversion of the road levy funds to traffic law enforcement is an annual practice that allocates $720,000 from the collected road tax levy to go to traffic law enforcement services for unincorporated Jefferson County. The remainder of the levy is deposited into the county road fund, according to commission documents.
The levy tax increases are a prelude to the upcoming county biannual budget hearing, which is Dec. 2 in the commissioners’ chambers of the Jefferson County Courthouse.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
