Have You Paid Your GOPHER TAX?

mazama-pocket-gopher-01b-rodgilbertCommissioners in Thurston county, Washington, have invented a new gopher tax, and it could be as high as $42,000 for new home buyers.

We The Governed reports:

The Thurston County Commissioners in collusion with the US Fish and Wildlife Service have created a novel method of extracting additional tax dollars from prospective new homeowners in Washington State.  According to public documents, Thurston County staff has proposed a new gopher tax, up to $42,000 for new homeowners who might consider building a home on or near land that might be inhabited by a rodent called the Mazama Pocket Gopher.  This gopher tax (called “mitigation” in planner-speak) would be in addition to any other fees, permits, taxes, or other costs that might be imposed on the construction of a new home in Thurston County, Washington.  For direct links to the concept files written and presented by Thurston County planning staff go here and here.

The $42,000 gopher tax is likely to become law later this year.   Two of the three Commissioners (Sandra Romero and Cathy Wolfe) have been supportive of the plan and the process for many years now.  In addition, the Thurston County Planning Department has been largely controlled by the US Fish & Wildlife Service for years – many of the county employees are entirely subsidized by USFWS grant money.  This has been a concern of property rights advocates for many years because local county staff won’t question their orders from USFWS when their jobs depend on grant dollars from that federal agency.

Another aspect of the gopher tax that has local observers concerned is the current plan for much of this money to be transferred to an out-of-state nonprofit organization.  Some of these gopher tax monies would stay in Thurston County, but it appears that after insiders get their cut, most of these funds would be sent to an out-of-state organization to manage local taxpayer-purchased land that could be set aside as bonus pocket gopher habitat.

Cliff Moore1Apparently the gopher is now considered an “endangered species”, but only in the Puget Sound area, as the animal is listed as “least concerned” on its wikipedia page.

County Manager Cliff Moore is said to be the brains (or lack there of) behind this, telling property owners to pound sand.

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Thanks for sharing!