Island County commissioners were astounded to learn last week that an inactive diking district has not paid taxes on two of its properties for the past three years.

Diking District 3, which encompasses an area near Dugualla Bay on North Whidbey, will lose two parcels of land it owns unless a new board is appointed soon to pay the taxes.

According to the Municipal Research and Services Center, a diking district’s purpose is to “straighten, widen, deepen and improve all rivers, watercourses or streams and construct diking system to protect land from overflow.”

Jennifer Roll, the board’s clerk, explained to the county commissioners Oct. 9 that Treasurer Tony Lam placed a legal notice in the Whidbey News-Times at the end of August about an application for judgment foreclosure, which is scheduled for Dec. 3. There are two properties owned by the diking district that are affected by the foreclosure process.

“Currently, there are no existing commissioners for Diking District 3, and only the commissioners of the district can pay taxes,” Roll said.

Fortunately, the county has received three applications from people living within the district who have expressed interest in being appointed as commissioners. Roll said only two are required to move forward in paying the assessment and fees, which will take care of the arrears and cease foreclosure.

Commissioner Melanie Bacon said she was interested in reinstating the diking district’s board. Commissioner Jill Johnson, however, expressed frustration at the lack of communication that led to this issue, suggesting that there needs to be “some kind of administrative huddle about how we got here.”

In an interview, Lam said the amount owed on the two properties is $2,081 and $1,967. His multiple attempts to reach the district’s former commissioners about paying the taxes went unanswered.

Back in 2011, when the treasurer’s office last collected assessments, there were 27 properties listed within the district.

The State Auditor’s Office described Diking District 3 as an “unauditable government” in a report published April 13, 2023.

The county commissioners plan to discuss the diking district applicants further at a work session on Oct. 16.