UPDATED, 7/20: Redmond and other suburban citizens pay $10 per parcel to fund the King Conservation District (KCD). Many of the funds have been directed to 50 habitat restoration and protection projects throughout our Sammamish-Cedar Creek "Watershed Salmon Recovery Council" (WRIA 8). Over the years, critical restoration projects on Bear Creek, Issaquah Creek, Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, the Sammamish River, Little Bear Creek, and Kelsey Creek could not have been completed without the wise appropriation of the KCD funds by experienced WRIA 8 Sammamish-Cedar Creek Salmon Recovery councilmembers.
Of the $10 each parcel owner in Redmond pays to King Conservation District, $5 goes to WRIA 8 Watershed restoration, protection and education projects, $3 goes to the King Conservation District and $2 goes to the City of Redmond. This current policy of appropriating landowner funds ($5-$3-$2) has functioned well over the years, giving suburban cities and WRIA 8 Watershed Council flexibility and control in allocating funds by priority of value and need.
WRIA 8 Watershed Salmon Recovery Council has been very successful at leveraging KCD funding. Every WRIA 8 KCD grant dollar is matched by $2 of local, state or federal funds. From 1998-2007 WRIA 8 received $7,291,598 in KCD funds. They estimate that WRIA 8 KCD funds have leveraged an additional $14,572,720!
Unfortunately, the King Conservation District Board of Supervisors in Renton proposes to reduce city and WRIA funding by 10% or more and with no transparency in how the grants will be allocated between cities and watershed councils.
Greater clarity and certainty of funding is needed for these grant programs to continue to be successful. If you agree or disagree, King Conservation District Board of Supervisors wants to hear from you : comments@kingcd.org. The deadline for comments is July 20, however comments coming in after July 20 will be read and considered.
King Conservation District Board of Supervisors
1107 SW Grady Way, Suite130
Renton, WA 98057
King Conservation District (KCD) comprehensive website -- special assessment topic
UPDATE, 7/20: Here is information on upcoming meetings regarding the KCD assessment where the KCD Board is inviting your participation and feedback:
The KCD Advisory Committee is meeting this Thursday, July 23rd from 1:30-4PM at Kirkland City Hall downstairs in the Peter Kirk Room. The meeting agenda is attached.
Directions to Kirkland City Hall: http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/Maps_and_Directions.htm
The KCD Board of Supervisors Meeting is next Monday, July 27th at 6PM at the King Conservation District’s office at 1107 SW Grady Way, Suite 130 in Renton.
The agenda for the meeting will be posted at: http://www.kingcd.org/abo_boa.htm
Directions to the KCD office: http://www.kingcd.org/con_us_map.htm
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Excerpt from an Email by Councilman Hank Myers, this week:
ReplyDeleteThanks for this article. As you may imagine our daily and weekly packages and emails can be daunting so the recent King Conservation District stuff was below the radar. I don't know how much money is involved for Redmond, but I assume we have roughy 25,000 parcels, including commercial development, so we could do a lot with that money leveraged with volunteer action.
-- Hank Myers, City Council
7/17/09 from Jeffrey Possinger, KCD Administrator posted on FACEBOOK.
ReplyDeleteHere is the address: comments@kingcd.org
Just so you know - I invite your comments. I know that there is a great deal of concern about the assessment proposal; but the changes are actually not as scary as they seem on the surface. There are a number of reasons we are chaning the structure - but at the end of the day many of the critical services and programs we have offered in the past, including the WRIA and Member Jurisdiction grant programs are going to be administered in a similar way. The way we get there simply needs to change. I would encourge you to talk to the board (in comments, etc.) about the programs and services that you want to hav continued funding for in the board's budget process i.e. the WRIA/Member Jurisdiction Grants programs; talk about how important these programs are, and that you want continued funding for them in their budget. Thank you for your concern about the district - it is appreciated.
In response to Mr. Myers comment, The King Conservation District assessment proposal was discussed thoroughly during the recent Planning and Public Works Commmittee, of which Mr. Myers is not a member. Myers did mention a letter the Mayor wrote to KCD appealing the assessment proposal.
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