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Committee backs Orcutt bill
to let counties
keep more timberland revenue
When certain parcels of
public land generate revenue through leasing or logging, the state takes
two slices of the revenue before turning the remainder back to the
counties where the parcels are located.
Rep. Ed Orcutt
thinks that’s at least one slice too many, and on Thursday the House
Natural Resources, Ecology and Parks Committee agreed, voting 8-3 for
his bill to redistribute timberland revenues back to counties.
“It’s one thing for the
Department of Natural Resources to keep enough revenue to cover its
costs for managing the land. But I don’t think the state should be
allowed to simply take another cut of that revenue for its general fund,
like it’s been doing,” said Orcutt, R-Kalama. “Under my legislation,
House Bill 1691, DNR could still recover its management costs, but the
state would be required to give all the remaining revenue back to the
counties for distribution to their local taxing districts. Those local
governments could then use that extra revenue to perform the services
the state requires them to perform."
HB 1691 concerns the more
than 540,000 acres known as Forest Board Transfer Lands, found in more
than 20 counties. These lands are forested parcels acquired by a county
through tax lien foreclosure and deeded to the state to be held in trust
and managed by DNR to provide non-tax revenue to that county. Revenue
generated from leasing and the removal of valuable materials from the
transfer lands is dedicated to the county in which the lands are
located.
DNR keeps approximately 22
percent of the revenue generated by these lands to cover administration,
reforestation and protection costs. On average, 15 percent of the
remainder has been going into the state general fund.
“Under my bill the money
that’s been going into the state general fund would also go back to the
counties. That’s an estimated 9 to 11 million dollars each year across
20-plus counties, which could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars
in additional revenue for some of our financially distressed counties,”
Orcutt explained.
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Public
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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