Rob Chase, Spokane County Treasurer, would like to remind Spokane County taxpayers that first half property taxes are due by April 30 per Washington State law. If payments are mailed to the Treasurer's Office through the U.S. POstal Service, they muct be postmarked on or before the due date (RCW 1.12.070)

Mr. Chase also alerts the publlic to be careful that payments are dropped in a U.S. Postal Service box or station early enough so they are postmarked before the tax deadline. State law dictates that County Treasurers recognize only the cancellation date applied by the U.S. Postal Service to determine timeliness of payments.

Payment options include ACH, debit and credit cards via the Internet, in office, or through our phone system by calling (509) 477-4713 and pressing options #2. Please visit our website at www.spokanecounty.org/treasurer

Attention: Our normal business hours are from 8:30am-4pm, Monday through Thursday and 8:3-am-1:00pm Friday.

Payments can be mailed to the Treasurer's Office at the following address:

Spokane County Treasurer

P.O Box 199

Rain and wind. NOW it feels like Fall.  

So with that in mind, it's a good time to think about an annoying chore that many of you will be doing in the coming days.  That chore of course is picking up leaves.  A necessary evil of home ownership, but also a major factor in water pollution prevention.  And after you read this, you'll realize that you actually live on "riverfront property"

Leaves are harmless, right?  Totally natural.  So how do they contribute to water pollution you ask?  

Wind blown leaves that make their way to the streets combine with leaves that naturally fall in to the street, creating excessive amounts of leaves that end up being washed down storm drains and in to the Spokane River where they begin to decay, and release nutrients contributing to the excess algae in lakes like Lake Spokane.

Even if the leaves themselves don’t move, rain seeping through leaf piles and leaves crushed by car tires makes a rich “nutrient tea” that flows along the curb into the storm drain system.