Commissioners' Report

Prior to Tuesday's Wahkiakum County Commissioners' meeting, a public hearing was held at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 1 to discuss "revenue sources for the current expense budget." Among these was "consideration of a property tax increase." Following public hearing on the issue, the commissioners voted unanimously on a 1 percent property tax increase.

During Tuesday's meeting, the commissioners signed a letter of support regarding the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. According to the meeting packet, the tribe "requested a letter of support from the Wahkiakum County Commissioners for the Grays Headwaters Restoration and Planning - Phase II proposal" and "plans to continue their restoration work in the upper Grays and the $2 million dollar WCRRI (Washington Coast Restoration and Resiliency Initiative) grant request will be allocating $1.2 million of the budget to purchase trees and boulders from local private and commercial timber owners to stimulate the local economy." The commissioners approved the letter unanimously. The second letter of support presented before the commissioners was regarding Columbia Land Trust's WCRRI grant application for property acquisition for the Upper Grays River Community Forest. According to Tuesday's packet, the pending Upper Grays River Community Forest "will be officially enacted once both Pacific and Wahkiakum counties pass ordinances adopting the interlocal agreement and charter for the community forest organization," which is expected to take place in early 2026. The commissioners unanimously approved the letter of support.

Paula Culbertson, Diana Zimmerman, and Sandra Staples-Bortner were re-appointed as Wahkiakum Marine Resources Committee members for an extended two-year term. The new term will commence Jan. 1, 2026 and run through Dec. 31, 2027.

Wahkiakum County Auditor Nicci Bergseng brought before the commissioners a request to approve a membership agreement between Wahkiakum County and Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). The center "is the leading cybersecurity resource for state, local, tribal, and territorial governments" and "is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security." As the services and support would be available at no cost to the county, the commissioners unanimously approved the agreement. Berseng also presented before the commissioners a request to approve "a resolution amending disbursement rates for the Veteran's Relief Fund." One of the proposed updates was "adding rental/mortgage/tax assistance up to $1,000." The commissioners unanimously approved the proposal.

Finally, Emergency Technology Coordinator Beau Renfro requested the Board of County Commissioners' "approval to request public proposals for the migration from Microsoft Office 365 Commercial to Microsoft Office 365 Government Community Cloud." Renfro asked to "facilitate the Request for Proposals (RFP) to complete the project," which consists of the cost to publish the RFP in The Wahkiakum County Eagle. The commissioners unanimously approved Renfro's request.