Commissioner pushes for pay-per-mile tax

Taxpayers fund a nonprofit working against them

Why are we paying a nonprofit to raise our taxes? This explanation will leave your head spinning. A masterclass in gaslighting and deflection. Words of wisdom from Governor Gregoire. Maybe 99% of people don’t know what’s good for them. What we’re getting compared to what we deserve.

Clallam County citizens don’t just pay Commissioner Mark Ozias’ salary—they also fund the organization he helps lead, which is pushing to triple the property tax cap.

Last month, the cash-strapped Board of Commissioners approved a $39,335 payment to the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC), an Olympia-based nonprofit that lobbies for policy changes. Commissioner Ozias serves as First Vice President on WSAC’s Executive Committee.

WSAC’s executive committee is leaning on Olympia to raise the property tax cap from 1% to 3% annually.

Public backlash, Ozias deflects

Last week, residents were outraged to learn that, after years of wasteful spending, Ozias was using his position to pressure Olympia into tripling the property tax cap. In response to the backlash, he sent a form letter to several residents trying to justify his actions.

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Assuming this email is in response to the most recent Watchdog article I want to be sure you understand how the portion of your property taxes that relate to Clallam County government works. Currently, counties in WA are limited to a 1% annual increase in our total property tax collection. In small round numbers, that means if the county levied $100 in total property tax collection last year, the most we can levy this year is $101. Depending on valuation changes, new construction, etc. individual taxpayers may or may not actually see increases in the amount of property tax attributable to Clallam County.

It is important to understand that property tax is the primary revenue source for county government. It isn’t hard to see that this presents a structural challenge to all counties; costs always increase by more than 1% annually. But the services that counties are obligated to provide – Sheriff and jail, prosecution and public defense, elections, licensing, public health, environmental health, land use planning, building and permitting to name a few – do not change and in fact almost always become more complex over the course of time.

Clallam County (and all counties in WA) have seen significant escalation in several major cost centers; I’ll use public defense and risk insurance as examples.

Providing public defenders is a Constitutional guarantee, executed by counties. During my time as a County Commissioner this expense has moved from less than $800,000 annually to more than $2.2 million this year. We are reimbursed approximately $65,000 annually from the state for this service. Looking ahead, we are about to see new caseload standards be implemented that will push this expense in our county to more than $6 million annually. This is an obligatory service which we are required to fund. While all counties have been working closely with the Legislature to develop a new funding construct, there is little hope this won’t continue to be an expense primarily borne by counties.

Risk insurance expense continues to rise at rates far greater than inflation, even though Clallam County has a very good insurance rating. For 2025, our base rate increase in and of itself was MORE than the additional 1% property tax revenue we are collecting. There are no good options.

These are not special interests, my interests, or the interests of any other Commissioner. They are services we are obligated to provide and insurance coverage we absolutely need to have. Some might consider partnerships to build affordable and supportive housing to be “special interests;” I would argue that they are both “community interests” and obligations of state law. For the 2025 Comprehensive Plan update we are required to determine how much housing across multiple income levels our community will require, how much we have, and what the gap is. We will be required to make progress across all sectors.

For 2025 we asked all county departments to achieve either a 7% reduction in cost, or to find equivalent new revenue. This exercise resulted in several layoffs across multiple departments and work continues to forge new efficiencies between departments. We are also working very hard to utilize newly-available revenue streams to offset costs currently borne by county taxpayers. A good example of this would be provision of health care in the county jail. Once someone is booked into a county jail, said county becomes responsible for that person’s health care needs. Currently this costs local taxpayers well over $1 million annually in our county.

Counties have been working for years, both through state-level advocacy (lead by the WA Association of Counties) and through federal-level advocacy (lead by the National Association of Counties) to see that those incarcerated individuals who were on Medicaid prior to booking are able to remain on Medicaid once booked; the system has always cut off access to Medicaid upon incarceration. We are on track to be able to begin billing Medicaid for a broad suite of medical services we are already providing, and once we are able to implement this major change we will see a decrease in the amount of local funding necessary to provide this care.

If you have not done so already, I encourage you to go to the Assessor’s page at clallamcountywa.gov and do a search on your property. You can look at all of the components that make up your total tax bill; how much goes to schools, how much to the fire district, how much to the library district, how much to the county general fund, the county road fund, etc. Remember that every school, fire, or hospital bond or levy was voted on and approved by a majority, or in some cases super-majority, of voters. You might also look at the total tax dollars being collected by various junior taxing districts; Fire District 3 collects more total dollars annually from FD3 residents than the county collects from all residents county-wide.

While none of this information changes your family’s tax burden, I hope at a minimum it helps raise understanding of the dynamics that all counties are facing – which is why the entire WA Association of Counties, from the smallest and most-conservative eastern WA county to King County, are united in our advocacy for raising our cap to 3% (or inflation, whichever is less.)

Sincerely,

Mark Ozias

Clallam County Commissioner

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Ozias’ letter employs several manipulative tactics to deflect concerns about wasteful spending while justifying tax increases. Here’s how:

1. Deflection and Misdirection

   • Instead of addressing concerns about wasteful spending, Ozias shifts the focus to how property taxes are structured and the limitations on county revenue. This avoids answering the core issue—whether tax dollars are being used efficiently.

2. Overloading with Information

   • The letter bombards the reader with a long-winded explanation of county services, revenue limitations, and rising costs without specifically addressing why constituents believe there is wasteful spending. This technique makes it difficult for the reader to pinpoint whether waste exists.

3. Emotional Manipulation and Fearmongering

   • Ozias frames services such as public defense and risk insurance as unavoidable expenses, implying that without increased taxes, essential services will suffer. He does not acknowledge any potential mismanagement or inefficiencies in how these services are funded.

4. False Dichotomy

   • The letter suggests there are "no good options" other than raising taxes, ignoring the possibility of cutting unnecessary expenditures, improving financial management, or finding alternative revenue sources.

5. Subtle Gaslighting

   • By repeatedly emphasizing that these tax increases are structural and universal to all counties, Ozias subtly implies that constituents’ concerns are misplaced or uninformed. He insinuates that they simply don’t understand how county finances work, rather than acknowledging their valid frustrations.

6. Strategic Omission of Wasteful Spending Issues

   • Nowhere in the letter does Ozias directly refute or address concerns about his own spending decisions. Instead, he focuses on legally required expenses (public defense, Medicaid, etc.), sidestepping any mention of discretionary spending that could be considered wasteful.

7. Shifting Responsibility to Other Entities

   • He encourages constituents to check how much of their tax bill goes to different districts, subtly implying that their frustration might be misplaced or that other entities are responsible for high taxes—not his administration.

8. Manipulative Call to Unity

   • By stating that even the smallest conservative counties and King County are advocating for a tax increase, he tries to normalize the tax hike and make dissenting views seem unreasonable.

This letter is crafted to make concerned taxpayers feel like they don’t understand the budget process, while avoiding any direct response to accusations of wasteful spending. It reframes the issue as an unavoidable structural problem rather than a result of poor financial management, effectively gaslighting constituents who are trying to hold leadership accountable.

A voter-approved protection

In 2001, Washington voters passed Initiative 747, capping annual property tax increases at 1% unless voters approved a higher rate. In 2007, the Washington State Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional. However, during a special legislative session, the state legislature quickly reinstated the cap, and Governor Christine Gregoire signed it into law, emphasizing the importance of protecting homeowners:

"I believe we must protect taxpayers, particularly seniors and people on fixed incomes, from being taxed out of their homes," Gregoire stated. She also reaffirmed her commitment to respecting the will of the voters.

If Clallam County Commissioners want to raise property taxes by 3%, they already have a simple, democratic option: ask the voters. They could make their case to the public and let the people decide. But that would require transparency, accountability, and public engagement—qualities Commissioners Ozias, Johnson, and French consistently avoid.

Instead, this Board of Commissioners operates with a top-down approach, treating taxpayers as a funding source for their priorities rather than participants in the decision-making process.

Ozias and WSAC push for pay-per-mile tax

Earlier this month, Ozias’s organization testified to the House Transportation Committee in support of House Bill 1921, which proposes charging drivers per mile to use Washington State’s roadways.

“From our perspective, something needs to change,” testified Axel Swanson, Managing Director of WSAC, before asking legislators to advance the bill.

In December, Commissioner Ozias admitted that due to transportation funding struggles, he was working with a special interest group in Olympia to support the pay-per-mile tax. When a concerned resident suggested that instead of imposing new taxes, lawmakers should revisit the “75/25 agreement”—where tribal gas stations keep 75% of collected gas taxes and only remit 25% to the state—Ozias ignored the idea.

“Before you think about taxing us more, or installing trackers in the cars, or going by a pay-per-mile system, have these other gas stations that are selling massive amounts of fuel, have them pay the fair amount. Have them pay the gas tax. That will fund the shortfall that you’re missing rather than putting that burden on the backs of the taxpayers that are still forced to pay it.” — public comment to Commissioner Ozias in December

While this solution would benefit Ozias’ constituents, it would be detrimental to the Jamestown Tribe, which funded over half of his last campaign. In 2022, tribal gas stations kept over $65 million in gas taxes—money that would have otherwise gone toward state transportation projects.

Of the 20,100 people who testified on House Bill 1921, 19,836 were against it, and only 270 supported it—meaning 99% of the public opposed the pay-per-mile tax. Yet, Commissioner Ozias is still pushing for it, using Clallam County taxpayer dollars to fund the effort.

Answer to the voters

Commissioner Ozias and the Board of Commissioners have repeatedly prioritized lobbying for tax increases over listening to their constituents. Rather than making their case directly to the voters, they are working behind closed doors to force higher taxes on residents without accountability. Meanwhile, they ignore real solutions—such as addressing financial mismanagement and closing loopholes that allow millions in lost tax revenue—because they would rather shift the burden onto the taxpayers.

The people of Clallam County deserve transparency, fiscal responsibility, and a voice in decisions that affect their financial well-being. It’s time for the commissioners to answer to the voters—not to the organizations they fund to push for tax hikes.

Get engaged

WSAC is using Clallam County taxpayer dollars to lobby Olympia for a tax increase. Share your thoughts with WSAC Interim Executive Director Derek Young by emailing dyoung@wsac.org.

All three Clallam County Commissioners can be reached by emailing the Clerk of the Board at loni.gores@clallamcountywa.gov.

L-R: Commissioners Randy Johnson, Mark Ozias, and Mike French