By Mark Ozias

Voters Guides have been mailed and Clallam County voters are being asked to consider a “levy lid lift” for the County General Fund. Property tax is the primary funding source for county government, supporting the broad work and scope of responsibilities that counties are required to handle.

The General Fund supports all county government functions that are not otherwise funded via a fee, a grant or a contract; for example, the Sheriff’s Department. In Washington State we have extremely high standards for our law enforcement officers. High standards are good, but come with high costs for training and salaries. This means that our state lags behind others when it comes to per capita funding for law enforcement, and in fact our county even lags behind our state with one of the lowest “deputy to population” ratios in the entire country. Without additional revenue, it will become increasingly difficult even to maintain current levels of service.

The General Fund pays for necessities like risk insurance. We constantly work at reducing risk, and in fact our county enjoys a very good rating with our insurers. Unfortunately the insurance market is less willing to underwrite public agencies than was once the case; even though we pool together with other counties the cost of insurance is skyrocketing.

Last year the increase in our insurance premium was greater than the 1% increase to property tax collections we are allowed by law. Let that sink in… just this single additional mandatory expense was more costly than the additional allowable revenue collected.

Technology is central to everything we do. Every county employee needs access to modern tools and every county resident rightfully expects their county government to deploy technology to increase access, increase efficiency and reduce cost. Rising costs associated with increased cybersecurity protections, the movement toward technology subscription models and costly (but necessary) investments in financial management software all put pressure on the General Fund.

Everyone at the county is working hard to cut costs and to create efficiencies. One example where our county is leading the way stemmed from the recognition that we have been employing health care professionals in both our adult jail and our juvenile detention facilities, as once someone comes into our custody the county is responsible for that person’s health care needs, whatever they may be.

To reduce redundancies and to increase flexibility, we have created a “combined clinical services” model with one staff that is shared between facilities. This new structure is also facilitating our ability to bill Medicaid for many of the health care services being provided. We will never stop looking for ways to do more with less.

While most of us have seen our home values rise and the amount of property taxes we pay increase over the years, it is important to recognize how little of these increased property taxes actually come to the county General Fund. In fact, the bulk of increased property taxes being paid in our county relate to voter-approved bonds and levies to support school districts, fire districts and hospital districts.

Because the county has not gone back to property owners to ask for a levy lid lift to help us keep pace with expenses, our levy rate has been steadily decreasing over time. Ten years ago your Clallam County General Fund levy rate was $1.44/thousand of assessed value. By 2025 that levy rate had eroded to $.76/thousand. The ask to voters is to bring that rate up to $.95/thousand — significantly less than our levy rate in 2015 and about half of our maximum allowable levy rate which is $1.80/thousand.

If voters approve this lift in November, the owner of a $400,000 home would pay an additional $10/month.

Please visit clallam countywa.gov and search your own property to review your property tax details. When you look back at previous tax years you will find that your contribution to the General Fund has barely changed in the past 10 years; some of you will find that it has even gone down. This exercise will help empower every voter to make an informed choice when considering the proposed levy lid lift.