Illegal tax?

To The Eagle,

Attention Grays River alley landowners. Please notice your new assessments from the Grays River Flood Control District in the 2026 tax bill. What’s new is that even a sliver of property in the GRFCD gave them an idea to assess your total property owned from $1 to $3 an acre. Or you may be paying $25 per parcel, no matter how small the parcel touching the district, and no matter how many parcels you may own. Is that fair? Nope!

I believe this to be an illegal taxing of people’s property not in the GRFCD by an entity that seems to have little oversight from the county. Do the taxes you pay to the GRFCD provide you any benefit? In 1993, a proposal to create a similar district in the Deep River watershed was overwhelmingly rejected by voters.

What can be done? The illegal taxation can be stopped. There is a district dissolution procedure, RCW 86.09.622, that needs a favorable 60 percent vote of electors in the GRFCD to finally eliminate the “cash grab.” If you would like to sign a petition calling for a vote to put an end to this, call or text 360-270-1930. The next Flood Control District Meeting is Thursday, March 12, at 5:30 p.m. at the Grays River Fire Station.

Jo Schnotala,

Grays River