Our Vanishing County
Mismanagement, waste, and misplaced priorities
Clallam County is losing land, tax revenue, and vital services while officials stand by. As millions flow to the Jamestown Tribe, taxpayers absorb the losses, and mismanaged funds leave key programs unfunded. Meanwhile, neighboring Jefferson County is crowdfunding road repairs, highlighting government ineptitude. How much more can we afford to lose?
The Clallam County Board of Commissioners has once again overseen the shrinking of our county, with another 52.74 acres being removed from the tax rolls. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has approved the transfer of 13 parcels north of Sequim into land-into-trust status for the Jamestown Tribe.
According to a letter sent to the commissioners, "the overall purpose of the Tribe's application is to provide increased long-term socio-economic security for the Tribe through land acquisition to benefit the Tribe's efforts to enhance self-determination." However, this so-called security comes at a direct cost to Clallam County taxpayers.
The disparity in wealth
The Jamestown Tribe’s 2023 Report to Tribal Citizens reveals that the Tribe generated an astounding $70,855,177.40 in revenue. With only 217 tribal members living in the local service area, that equates to $326,521.55 per member—a figure that dwarfs Clallam County’s median household income of $62,695. This disparity raises serious concerns about the fairness of continued land-into-trust acquisitions, which further deplete our already strained tax base and increase the cost of housing for remaining property taxpayers.
A never-ending expansion
The Tribe's expansion is unlikely to slow anytime soon. The BIA letter states that "Once the land is placed in trust status, it will put the Tribe in a better position to bid for grants or to qualify for additional funding from federal agencies and other agencies who distribute funding based on total tribal acreage, roads, and other reasons." In other words, the more land the Tribe accumulates, the more taxpayer dollars it can access—further exacerbating an already lopsided financial arrangement.
County Commissioners: Silent and inactive
The County Commissioners were notified of this application in September of last year, yet they failed to respond. Commissioner Mark Ozias admitted in October that the Board had never addressed the BIA's request to outline the financial impact of these removals from the property tax rolls during his nine years serving as commissioner.
The 13 parcels being converted generated $21,013.01 in taxes in 2023. While the letter downplays this loss, claiming it amounts to just .025% of total tax revenue of $114,911,994.50, this figure does not account for the broader cumulative impact of the Tribe’s 1,718 acres already acquired.
How much tax revenue has already been lost, and what could that money have funded instead?
Questionable contributions and sweetheart deals
The Tribe claims to contribute $250,000 annually to the Clallam County Sheriff's Office, but this money comes from a federal BIA grant funded by taxpayers. Furthermore, the contractual language makes it clear that if the Tribe did not receive these federal funds, it would not be obligated to contribute anything at all. Similarly, the Tribe leases a fire station in Blyn to Fire District 3 for just $10,000 per year—a deal that the Tribe asserts should be $75,000.
In the eyes of the BIA, it seems that the Tribe’s benevolence far outweighs any negative impact that defunding our schools, hospitals, libraries, and veterans' services would have on a community with a shrinking tax base, all while taxpayers shoulder the increasing burden.
Misplaced priorities: Funding cuts and wasteful spending
Meanwhile, fiscal mismanagement runs rampant elsewhere in the county. The Sheriff's Office, already strapped for resources, just forfeited $68,558 in state funds meant for the county’s "chain gang" inmate work program, which clears illegal dumping sites and cleans roadways. Sheriff Brian King admitted that staffing shortages had left the program largely dormant, writing, "Not having enough staff to perform regular chain gang missions is a deeply felt and unfortunate repercussion of our staffing crisis."
As if these budget shortfalls weren’t enough, the County is now proceeding with a $100,000 security upgrade to courthouse access, mimicking airport-style screening. Instead of prioritizing road repairs, public safety, or essential county services, funds are being funneled into superficial measures that do little to address the real issues plaguing Clallam County.
A lesson from our neighbors
There may be a lesson to learn from our neighbors. In Jefferson County, another area facing financial hardship, residents have turned to creative solutions to repair the washed-out road leading to the Hoh Rainforest and Olympic National Park. They have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise private funds to unlock state funding ahead of the busy tourist season. Commissioner Randy Johnson and state Senator Mike Chapman even personally contributed $100 each.
This effort is reportedly being championed by Jefferson County Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour.
What next?
Imagine if there were a system where residents paid taxes and, in return, the government prioritized essential services like road repair and public safety instead of boofing kits and poet laureates. Perhaps Clallam County's mismanagement has led us to the point where a GoFundMe, bake sale, or lemonade stand is the only way to correct years of financial negligence. Without urgent reform, taxpayers will continue to foot the bill for government waste, misplaced priorities, and unchecked land acquisitions that erode our county’s future.
Seems to me it is high time for the appropriate prosecuting agency to take a good hard look at how our county commissioners are voting to fund NGOs and the benefits those commissioners get, like trips to Washington, DC, to enhance their careers while shorting the citizens of the County.
I believe the time has come to learn the exact legal positions of tribal lands, the BIA and the relevant taxation involved. In particular; what is the legal requirement for one to be treaty entitled ? It is nit picking, but it is the insanity of discriminating on the basis of ancestry that requires proof of treaty entitlements. Contemplate how that determination is made and the absurdity of it becomes obvious. Neither those that were once treaty entitled nor those who crafted those treaties are living. So again; how do we determine who is entitled to rights and privileges above and beyond all other occupants of this land ? In order to maintain these entitlements in breeding is necessary. If not in breeding, then who is entitled ? With tribal owned land being sovereign it may become necessary that it be treated like all other sovereign nations. Passports and passport services should be required for both the non-tribal to access tribal land and for tribal to enter non-tribal land. Taken to it's logical end this process of allowing the treaty entitled to accumulate land and remove it from our tax rolls dictates there will ultimately be no County to manage. One should not be entitled to the infrastructure provided by the non treaty without paying their fair share. If it becomes necessary to embargo tribal owned business, it can be arranged.