- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Board of Supervisors gets Sulphur fire cleanup update, report on tax-defaulted property sales
In his first appearance before the board, new Environmental Health Director Jesse Kang gave the update on the Sulphur fire cleanup process.
Kang told the board that 136 properties needed to be cleaned, and the process had been completed on 129 of them. Of those, 62 had been tested and cleared for toxic materials.
He said the debris is expected to be removed on all of the properties by Jan. 22.
Kang said five properties are in the city of Clearlake and are going through an abatement process.
Public Health staff also told the board that the cleanup operation had been shut down on Monday due to rain.
One of the main items on the Tuesday agenda was a report from Treasurer Tax-Collector Barbara Ringen on a tax sale she held in June and another one she intends to hold this upcoming June.
As of Tuesday, Ringen said she and her staff had a list of 174 tax-defaulted properties with a minimum bid – the minimum bids for all properties plus fees – of $2.1 million.
She said her staff spent December collecting property tax for the current year and getting that list of properties together. Ringen said she hopes to have a final list for the tax sale in February.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he thought June was a good time for a tax sale, as property sales already are up at that time of year.
Supervisor Moke Simon asked about getting outside help. Ringen said that can actually make for more work. Rather, she’s hoping that new software being developed for tax sales will help her with the work.
Brown noted that at a community visioning workshop the night before in Kelseyville that the effort to redeem unpaid property tax and sell tax-defaulted properties came through as a priority for citizens. He said it’s important to show the public and employees that the county is moving forward not just on cutting back but also on regaining revenues.
The issue of the paper subdivision lots on the Northshore also came up during the board’s Tuesday discussion. Brown referred to a paper subdivision plan the board approved in 2015 that called for the county taking them off the market when they are tax-defaulted, bundling them and selling them.
“Maybe we should still consider that,” he said. “That’s the only way to salvage that up there.”
County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said the paper subdivision lots have been a workload issue for staff, but she planned to follow up on the matter.
Supervisor Tina Scott noted that along with collecting property tax, a concern that arose at the Monday night visioning workshop was that the paper lots aren’t maintained and create a fire hazard. She said community members want them maintained.
Huchingson thanked Ringen for her work, noting that the June tax sale “was just a tremendous boost to the budget,” and she hoped to see those sales continue.
Ringen told Lake County News later on Tuesday that the June 2017 tax sale brought in just under $1 million.
Huchingson said at Tuesday’s meeting that she wanted to facilitate a meeting next week with Ringen to look at her staffing needs and consider staffing up the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office.
Huchingson said another tax sale this June would be a shot in the arm that “we can’t do without” considering the county’s current difficult financial straits.
Supervisor Jeff Smith agreed that giving Ringen’s office more staff was the right thing to do. “If we staff it, it will pay for itself.”
Lake County News will have an upcoming report to further explain the tax sale process.
The board also approved a joint letter from Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma to the governor and the director of the California Office of Emergency Services regarding state budget requests for those counties in the wake of the October North Bay fires.
In other business, the board held a brief public hearing on changes to the county’s Section 8 Administrative, approved Chairman Jim Steele’s committee appointments for board members, reappointed Iris Hudson to the Lower Lake Cemetery District Board and appointed Timothy Samuel Chiara to the Western Region Town Hall.
The board also held a closed session discussion, for the second week in a row, on the topic of whether or not to initiate litigation against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. County Counsel Anita Grant told Lake County News that there has been no reportable action out of Tuesday’s session or the previous week’s.
Video of the public portion of the meeting can be watched at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.