Drafter
Clerk 06/08/2022
Title
AN ORDINANCE providing for the submission to the qualified electors of King County at the general election to be held in King County on November 8, 2022, of a proposition to restore King County's conservation futures property tax levy authorized under RCW 84.34.230 to a rate of $0.0625 per one thousand dollars of assessed valuation for collection in 2023 and use the dollar amount of the 2023 levy for the purpose of computing limitations for subsequent levies under chapter 84.55 RCW to provide funding for conservation futures as permitted under chapter 84.34 RCW, including, but not limited to, to pay, finance and refinance costs of the acquisition and preservation, of: urban green spaces, natural areas, wildlife and salmon habitat, trails, river corridors, farmlands and forests; and providing for conservation futures advisory committee recommendations.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. Natural lands support wildlife, provide clean air, enhance recreation opportunities, protect clean water, improve health and promote climate resilience. Farmlands promote sustainable local agriculture and a thriving agricultural economy. Forests protect wildlife, provide recreation opportunities, enhance water quality and promote a sustainable local timber industry. Protected river corridors provide salmon habitat, flood protection and recreation opportunities and promote the health of Puget Sound. Trail corridors provide access to recreation opportunities, increase nonmotorized mobility and improve air quality. Urban green spaces protect key lands in population centers to enhance public health and well-being, build community and expand recreation opportunities. Those are the open space lands that the county's conservation futures program, codified in K.C.C. chapter 26.12, has been protecting for years.
B. Protection and stewardship of urban green spaces, forests and farmlands anchor numerous det...
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