In the past few weeks, I’ve gotten 2 phone calls from individuals with questions about property taxes. One was from a prospective property buyer, one was from a realtor who was asking questions on behalf of a client. It seems as though every few years I get a number of these calls, so I thought I’d post about the issue.
On property tax bills, especially for homes or other “real” property, there is a line item for Soil and Water Conservation District or other similar description. This amount varies by property value–as do most tax line items–and is really not much in general. For most homeowners, the amount is about the cost of a pizza every year.
With those funds, the Conservation District Board of Supervisors–a seven member board elected in their residency area and unpaid–volunteer their time conducting business to fulfill the Conservation District’s mission: Conservation and Wise Use of Our Natural Resources. Board members have responsibilities to sit on committees or be involved with other agencies. Supervisors are reimbursed for their mileage and meals when they are on Conservation District business.
The Lewis & Clark CD has one full time staff person whose responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Administration of the “310 Law”, the Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act of 1975 for permits for activity on streams in the county
- Planning and execution of workshops including grazing management, cover crops/no-till, forestry, cheatgrass management, stream restoration, small acreage management and other topics
- Maintaining the budget and planning for the Conservation District
- The quarterly newsletter The Explorer in both hard copy print and electronic version
- Working with county schools on education programs, including outdoor classrooms and informing them of potential events such as summer youth camps and such
- Creation and updating the Conservation District’s webpage and Facebook page
- Coordination of cost share programs for Invasive Species, and special practices
- Grant writing and administration for special projects such as stream restoration, cover crop demonstrations, maintenance of the Rolling River Trailers in the state and other special projects as they come up, including mine reclamation, riparian plantings, education days and other great projects
- Coordination and cooperation with other state, federal and county entities including the DNRC, the NRCS, USFS, Lewis and Clark County (DES, WQPD, LHWG, Planning, Commission, etc.) on joint projects and concerns
- Working on legislative type issues as they come up, including testifying, assisting with presentations to the legislators
- Advising landowners on planting recommendations or other management issues including forestry, grazing, watering and placement of trees and shrubs
The money that the Conservation District receives from the property tax mill levy is put to wise use, going back on the ground IN the county as much as possible. The board and staff truly care about the natural resources in the county and will continue to do the work that we do for the foreseeable future. On this website, you’ll find copies of our annual plan, budget and a lot of other information about what we do. Let us know if you have questions or concerns.
