Commissioner's Corner

It’s almost spring! Are you familiar with the “Weed Board” and how they can serve you?

The mission of the Lincoln County Noxious Weed Board is to educate landowners to be responsible stewards of the land and resources, to make Lincoln County a better place to live by protecting and preserving all lands and natural resources of the County from the degrading impact of invasive noxious weeds; and to provide quality, timely, and responsive service to the residents of Lincoln County.

The Weed Board has been fulfilling that mission by providing outstanding services to our property owners for 50 years! All the while, operating with a very limited budget. We all know that the cost of doing business never seems to stop increasing. But somehow, the Weed Board has diligently managed to operate with the same amount of revenue for 17 years. During that period, staffing has decreased from 7 to 4 in 2005 and then from 4 to 2 in 2008 just to make ends meet.

In 2019, realizing that the revenue generated was no longer able to sustain a program that would provide adequate services to Lincoln County landowners, the Weed Board presented the Board of County Commissioners with several proposed rate increases and the revenue that each scenario would generate. After much discussion and public input, the Board of County Commissioners agreed to a modest increase to get the program back to adequate service levels. Although the rebuilding process will take a couple of years to accomplish, the Weed Board will regain financial stability. Your 2020 property tax statement will reflect the increased assessment.

The Weed Board revenue is generated by an assessment per parcel and is based on land classification. Except in our towns. If you own property in an incorporated area within Lincoln County, you do not pay the assessment on those parcels. Even though the Weed Board fields many calls and deals with complaints from our towns, you don’t pay.

The Weed Board, as well as all other Lincoln County services and programs, take great pride in being fiscally responsible and good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

There are currently two Weed Board member positions open. One in the southwest and one in the northwest areas of the county. Board members represent the people and their interests in their specific area and meet six times per year. For more information on the open Board positions or any other weed related topic, please visit or contact the Lincoln County Noxious Weed Control Board at: (509) 725-3646 or email weedboard@co.lincoln.wa.us.

Rob Coffman, Lincoln County Commissioner

Kevin Hupp, Lincoln County Noxious Weed Board Coordinator