A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE NEWPORT MINER & GEM STATE MINER
2012 Guide to Government in Pend Oreille & West Bonner Counties Editor’s Note: The following information will also be posted on The Miner’s Web site at www.pendoreillerivervalley.com. If changes are warranted throughout the year, please contact The Miner at 509-447-2433.
PEND OREILLE COUNTY COUNTY OFFICES Pend Oreille County offices are located at the following locations, all in Newport: • County Courthouse, 625 W. Fourth St. - Assessor, Auditor, Commissioners, Human Resources, Public Works, Community Development, Treasurer. Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. Commissioner hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. • Courthouse Annex, 418 S. Scott Ave. WSU Extension and Weed Board offices. • Sheriff’s Office, 331 S. Garden Ave. - Sheriff’s Offices, County Jail and 911 Dispatching. • McNally Hall of Justice, 229 S. Garden Ave. - Superior Court, Clerk’s Office, District Courtrooms and Office, County Prosecutors and Juvenile Department. Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. • Counseling Services, 105 S. Garden Ave. - Mental Health, Chemical Dependency, Developmental Disability Services and Prevention.
COMMISSIONERS
Hankey
Wear
Merrill
509-447-4119 888-740-8719 Laura Merrill, Chair (2014) Diane Wear, Vice-Chair (2012) John Hankey, Member (2012) Four-year terms Annual salary: $53,148 Duties: Serve as chief legislative and executive body in county; including, but not limited to, approve taxes; adopt a balanced budget, operate budgets under control of appointed department heads; oversee public roads and works; counseling; planning of unincorporated areas; and other services which are not clearly the responsibility of another elected official. Appoint citizens to commissioners and boards; represent the county locally, regionally and sate wide on various boards such as public health and economic development. Mail: P.O. Box 5025, Newport, WA 99156 Board meets every Monday and Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Commissioners’ office, main floor of the courthouse. Clerk of the Board: Chris Mylar Office hours: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
HUMAN RESOURCES 509-447-6499 Duties: Receive and process all county
employment applications; maintain personnel records; etc. Mail: P.O. Box 5025, Newport WA 99156 Human Resource Coordinator: Shelly Stafford
AUDITOR 509-447-6474 Fax: 509-447-2475 Marianne Nichols (2014) Four-year term Annual salary: $53,148 Duties: Finance: Maintain county’s central computerized ac- Nichols counting system, issuance of disbursements and responsible for financial accounting and reporting for expenditures, grants, budgets and monthly and annual reports to commissioners. Elections: Administer federal, state, county, municipal and special purpose elections. Licensing: Issuance of licenses for vehicles and vessels, titles, registrations, license plates and renewal tabs. Recording: Maintain historic records in perpetuity, including real property and marriage licenses. Mail: P.O. Box 5015, Newport, WA 99156
ASSESSOR 509-447-4312 Fax: 509-447-6450 James McCroskey (2014) Four-year term. Annual salary: $53,148 Duties: Determines value of all real private property in the county; constructs a prop- McCroskey erty tax roll of all market values in county; records all ownerships of property and segregation of ownership; keeps maps of ownership including property lines, answering public questions regarding those areas; record personal property and values; administers senior citizen property tax exemption; administers current use assessment program. Mail: P.O. Box 5010, Newport, WA 99156
TREASURER 509-447-3612 Fax: 509-447-0318 Terri Miller (2014) Four-year term. Annual salary: $53,148 The treasurer serves multiple state and local governmental entities and is accountable Miller directly to the citizens. Primary responsibilities include: Collecting real and personal property taxes (including performing foreclosures on real property and distraints of personal property), special assessments, excise tax, and miscellaneous receipts from other county districts and departments and collection of delinquent accounts; accounting for all funds and deposits of revenues for the state, county, cities and junior taxing districts (schools, port, cemeteries, fire, hospital, and water/sewer) mailing financial statements to all monthly; determining adequate liquidity in funds for issuance of warrants for payment to vendors for various
entities; administering short- and long-term debt financing; managing the cash flow of the county and investing funds not needed for immediate expenditures for the eounty and junior taxing districts; coordinating banking services. Mail: P.O. Box 5080, Newport, WA 99156
PUBLIC WORKS DEPT. 509-447-4513 Fax: 509-447-5890 Located in the lower level of the County Courthouse. Mail: P.O. Box 5065, Newport WA 99156 • Administration Sam Castro, director of Castro public works Don Ramsey, assistant county engineer • County Road Division 509-447-4513 Responsible for all county road work and projects performed by three county road maintenance districts and con- Ramsey struction work; administers county road and equipment funds; designs road projects and issues calls for bids. Also responsible for road survey design and contract administration of county road construction projects. Mail: P.O. Box 5040, Newport, WA 99156 • Solid Waste Division 509-447-4513 Responsible for solid waste planning and disposal in the north county, Usk and south county transfer stations. Responsible for recycling programs, household hazardous waste and moderate risk waste planning and disposal. Mail: P.O. Box 5041, Newport WA 99156 • Buildings and Grounds 509-447-4513 Responsible for physical plant and grounds keeping operations at six county buildings. Mail: P.O. Box 5068, Newport, WA 99156
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPT. 509-447-4821 Mike Lithgow, director Responsible for county land use and growth management planning. Also responsible for the review and approval of various development and construction permits, such as building Lithgow permits, shoreline development permits, subdivision and mobile home park and recreational vehicle park approvals. Mail: P.O. Box 5066, Newport, WA 99156 • Planning Commission District 1: John Stuart, Steve Wilson, Doug Smith; District 2: Don Comins, Steve Bennet, Guy Thomas; District 3: Rob Payne, Susan Hobbs and Judy Ashton. Meets on the second Tuesday of each month at the Cusick Community Center for business, and on the fourth Tuesday of each month for workshops, starting at 6 p.m.
SHERIFF For emergencies, call 911 Dispatch, non-emergencies
509-447-3151 or 800-669-3407 Civil Deputy 509-447-1907 Sheriff’s Administration 509-447-1909 Corrections (Jail) Botzheim 509-447-1918 Sheriff Alan Botzheim 509-447-1901 Four-year term Annual salary: $79,104 Duties: The sheriff is the chief executive officer and conservator of the peace of the county. Sheriff’s office mail: P.O. Box 5075, Newport, WA 99156 Jail mail: P.O. Box 5079, Newport, WA 99156 Office: 331 South Garden Ave., Newport, WA E-mail: sheriff@pendoreille.org
BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 509-447-2712 Fax: 509-447-0595 Reviews appeals to assessor’s property assessments. Applications available at Board of Equalization Office, Courthouse, 625 West Fourth, Newport WA 99156, and online at county website, www.pendoreilleco.org under County Services Mail: P.O. Box 5018, Newport WA 99156 Board: Don Wilson, Margie Fedderly, Garry Yann and alternate Craig Jenkins Clerk: Elizabeth Braun
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION 509-447-2712 P.O. Box 5060, Newport, WA 99156 Jim Brewster, Charles Watkins and Michael Albright Chief examiner: Chris Mylar
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 509-447-3731 Located in the basement of the county health center in Newport. For immediate attention, call sheriff’s office at 509-447-3151. Director: Jo Ann Boggs
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY /CORONER 509-447-4414 Fax: 509-447-0235 Thomas A. Metzger Four-year term Annual salary: $117,000 Duties: Serve as legal adviser to county officials, represents the county in civil cases, Metzger prosecute criminal matters, and act as ex-officio coroner. Mail: P.O. Box 5070, Newport, WA 99156 Coroner duties: Investigate questionable cases of death to assure that the medical certification and cause of death is properly completed.