FFPA rates are established in law by the legislature (RCW 76.04.610).

1. Tax lot parcels containing 50.00 acres or less of unimproved lands pay a minimum flat fee established by the legislature for Forest Fire Protection Assessment (FFPA). These parcels also pay a minimum flat fee for LCFFSA, which is established annually by DNR. 

FFPA flat fee:           $17.00

LCFFSA flat fee:      $ 6.00

County Fee:             $ 0.50

 2. Tax lot parcels containing 50.01 acres or more of unimproved assessed land pay a total minimum flat fee as described in 1 above, plus a per-acre assessment for each acre (or portion of an acre) over 50. The Washington State Legislature establishes the FFPA per- acre rate and DNR annually establishes the LCFFSA per-acre tare. 

FFPA per acre rate:        $0.27

LCFFSA per acre rate:   $0.15

- Permit Application - A complete and legible application is required. Providing detailed, legible information when submitting your application will streamline the process.

- Vicinity Sketch - Draw a map of how to get to your property.  Include any notes about gates/gate codes/big dogs, etc in the "Notes" section.

- Site Plan - It will need to include the 10 items listed, if applicable and be as complete as possible.

- Structural Plans - 2 sets of drawings of the project, including foundation plan, floor plan and cross section.  Truss layout and specification sheets.

If your project includes some electrical wiring or rewiring, you will need to contact the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries:

Department of Labor and Industries

312 SE Stonemill Drive, Suite 120

Vancouver, WA 98684-3508

Phone: 360-896-2300

Website:  www.Lni.wa.gov

Applications will be routed to other departments within Klickitat County for approval.  They are as follows:

• Health Department - Water availability & sewage disposal method approvals.
• Planning Department - Zoning & setback requirement approvals.
• Public Works/Road Department - Road approach approval if you access the property off of a County road.

Any permits required by other departments would need to be obtained from the respective department.

Processing times can vary depending on the scope of the project, approvals from other departments, and current work loads.  Please contact the Building Department for an estimated time frame for processing when you submit your application.

The fee is based on the work being done. Please contact our office for an estimated amount for your project.  Exact fees are calculated during the review of the plans for each project.  Fees for other departments will need to be paid directly to that department.

The type of inspections will vary depending on your specific project.  An inspection card, listing the required inspections, will be provided at the time of permit issuance.

If your project involves footings/foundation, an inspection is required of the rebar in place, BEFORE concrete is poured.

If your project involves lines buried in trenches, as inspection is required prior to back filling the trench.

Alterations/additions to a Manufactured Home may or may not require permits from Department of Labor and Industries.  You may contact them for requirements:

Department of Labor and Industries

312 SE Stonemill Drive

Suite 120

Vancouver, WA 98684-3508

Phone: 360-896-2372 or 800-647-0982

Website:  www.Lni.wa.gov.

If you are attaching anything to the outside of the manufactured home, it would require permitting from both Klickitat County Building Department and L&I.

If your property is located in the National Scenic Area, the Columbia River Gorge Commission requires you to comply with all National Scenic Area regulations. They can be contacted at 509-493-3323.

Applications can be submitted by mail. Please provide the application, a copy of your current driver’s license, along with copies of income and expense documentation. Our staff will verify your information and then shred the documentation. Please call our office if you have any questions or concerns.  We are here to serve you.

If your annual income does not exceed $35,000.00 and you own and reside in your home, including mobile homes, you may be entitled to a property tax reduction. You must be at least 61 year of age or, if under 61 years, retired because of a disability and unable to work. For details, contact the Assessor’s Office at (509) 773-3715.

Taxes are due when they are assessed.  The Washington State RCW's allow for two installment payments.  First half taxes must be paid or postmarked (US Postal Service or third party carrier such as FedEx or UPS postmark) by April 30 or the full year tax becomes delinquent May 1. Second half taxes must be paid or postmarked by October 31 or they become delinquent on Nov. 1. (RCW 84.56.020)  

Real property with a tax that is three or more years delinquent is subject to foreclosure after October 31 of the third year being delinquent. To redeem the property after the Certificate of Delinquency has been filed, all tax years interest, penalties and administrative costs must be paid. For further information, please call (509) 773-4664. (RCW 84.64)

Personal property taxes are assessed upon all business assets from Jan. 1 of the prior year until they are paid. First half personal property tax payments are due on or before April 30. If not paid by April 30, the property becomes subject to Distraint (seizure) and sale as provided by RCW 84.56.070. Personal property tax payments made after April 30 require payment of the full current year amount plus interest and penalty.  

If you believe this tax is unlawful or excessive and wish to preserve your right to seek a refund in court, you must, at the time you pay the tax, provide a separate written statement (1) stating that you are paying the tax or a portion thereof under protest, and (2) stating all of the reasons why you believe the tax paid under protest is unlawful or excessive. [RCW 84.68.020] More information is available from the Department of Revenue, or the County Treasurer’s office.

You may pay your property taxes using a third party     vendor. You can call toll free to 1-833-440-3762. You will be prompted to enter the following information; parcel #, payment amount, credit card # and expiration # and wait for a receipt #. There is a fee associated with this service. Call our office to request more information.  You can also go to Point and Pay to pay online.

All counties are governed by the laws of the State of Washington. Extensions cannot be granted due to hardship or any other extenuating circumstance.

It is always the responsibility of the taxpayer to ensure that taxes are paid in a timely manner. You may call (509) 773-4664 to be sure the taxes are current. If you have made arrangements with a mortgage company to pay taxes for you and if the mortgage company requests your tax information, we will send them the information.

No, taxes follow the property, not the taxpayer. The county does not foreclose on people, only parcels. It is your responsibility to ascertain the condition of taxes before you purchase the property.

Our office sends out a tax statement to the last known address of the taxpayer each February. The statement lists current and delinquent taxes owing. If you have not received a tax statement call the office at (509) 773-4664. It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to provide address change information.

An address change can be accomplished in person at 205 S Columbus Ave, Room 201, Goldendale, WA or by sending the information to Klickitat County Treasurer 205 S Columbus Ave, Room 201, Goldendale, WA 98620.  Please include the following information: parcel number, name and address and new mailing name and address information.

Please contact the Klickitat County Assessor’s Office at (509) 773-3715 or (800) 764-2235 to obtain information about your application.

The sale of real property in Washington is generally subject to real estate excise tax. Washington DOR Unless otherwise specifically exempt from tax, all sales are subject to the excise tax. The taxes imposed are due at the time the sale occurs and are to be collected by the county treasurer upon presentation of the documents of sale for recording in the public records.  Link to REET Forms.

When real estate excise tax is EXEMPT, there is a $10.00     processing fee applied to the excise affidavit. If an exemption is claimed, you     must provide the correct WAC Number and title located on question # 6 on the     excise tax affidavit. If you are unable to locate the WAC number and title,     please call the Klickitat County Treasurer at (509) 773-4664 or (800) 766-5403     for the correct WAC information.

    When using WAC # 458-61A-201 (GIFTS), a completed supplemental form is required to be    signed by both the Grantor and Grantee.  The supplemental must be submitted with the    Real Estate Tax Affidavit, and agents MAY NOT sign the  supplemental.  This form    is located on the DOR website.     REET Forms.

The Clerk's Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00, closed from noon to 1:00 pm for the lunch hour.

The cost to file for divorce/legal separation is $364.00.

For Superior Court cases, legal financial obligations may be paid online through Point and Pay or by calling 1-833-440-3761.

The forms needed for a Motion to Vacate a Felony Conviction pursuant to RCW 9.94A.640 and for Motion to Seal Court File pursuant to Court Rule GR15 are available online at the Administrative Office of the Court's Web site: http//www.courts.wa.gov/forms. To vacate a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor conviction, forms & instructions are located on the Administrative Office of the Court’s Web site: http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/.

Certified or noncertified documents may be requested two ways, in person through the Clerk's Office or through the Washington State Digital Archives.  Please refer to the Clerk's Office website for more information.

If a party wants to appear remotely via video or telephone, you must contact the Court Administrator a week before the hearing at (509) 773-5755, to get permission from the Court.

Certified copies are $5.00 for the first page and $1.00 per additional page. 

The Clerk's Office in Goldendale is now offering passport photo services.  A person will receive two 2x2 photos for the cost of $15.00.

Fees are different for every situation and are calculated in many ways. Everyone starts with the basic fee of $43.25 and things like vehicle weight, location, and taxes determine your final amount.

For vehicle and vessel fees, please visit Washington State Dept. Of Licensing to calculate tab fees.

The exact amount of your vehicle title and registration fees depend of several factors: 

• Vehicle type
• Vehicle weight
• Where you live
• License plate type

For the current Washington State Dept. of Licensing fee schedule, please visit dol.wa.gov. 

If you are a resident to Washington or have purchased a vehicle, you must present the following documents to a license agency in order to obtain Washington plates, registration, and title:

• The Vehicle Title properly released by the previous owner. 
• A Bill of Sale stating the date of purchase and full purchase price, signed by the previous owner.
• A completed Odometer Disclosure Statement if the vehicle is less than 10 years old.
• Valid driver's license. 

Some transfers may require additional documents and possibly a current emission test. If you have additional questions just give us a call or come in the office and let us help you.

Washington titled vehicles must be registered to the new owner within fifteen (15) days after purchase date to avoid penalty fees. The penalty can reach as high as $125 depending on how late the transfer occurs. DO NOT WAIT to transfer the vehicle.

Welcome to Washington State. To transfer your vehicle, you must present the following documents to a license agency in order to obtain Washington plates, registration, and apply for title:

• The Vehicle Title. If your title if held by a lienholder, please request a copy of the title from the lienholder.  
• An Odometer Disclosure Statement will be completed with the licensing agent if the vehicle is less than 10 years old.
• Valid driver's license. 

Some transfers may require additional documents and possibly a current emission test. If you have additional questions just give us a call or come in the office and let us help you.

You can transfer your vehicle license plates to another vehicle if the new vehicle is:

1. Titled and registered in your name; AND
2. Registered in Washington State; AND
3. Plates are transferred from/to a vehicle to equal type.

Reporting protects you from being held liable for towing charges or civil and criminal liabilities incurred by the new owner. 

For information about sellers reports and how it protects you, please visit the Washington State Department of Licensing information page. 

When selling a vehicle, it is important to remove license plates for the vehicle. Removing your license plates encourages the new owner to transfer ownership. Leaving the plates increases your risk of impound costs, traffic infractions, Good to Go! tickets, and other liabilities.

Yes, provided they have all the necessary information. This includes:

• Same last name and/or address as shown on the vehicle record OR
• Signed written authorization which includes your name and the vehicle information.

If the vehicles are "property of a like kind", then yes. Contact the licensing office for more information and to acquire a Bill of Trade.

For more information regarding vehicle/vessel licensing:

• Contact or visit any licensing office statewide. To find an office near you visit the Washington State Department of Licensing website, 
• Contact Customer Service by calling 360-902-3600 or visit the Washington State Department of Licensing Contact Us page. 

Monday through Friday 9am - 12pm and 1pm - 5pm (we are closed for lunch from Noon - 1pm).

Every Wednesday from 9am - 4pm. However, there are times when staff need to be there more than once a week and that is typically as determined by case needs.

No. We only monitor district court cases as ordered by the judges in East and West District Court. Post-adjudicated cases out of Superior Court are monitored out of Washington State Department of Corrections.

Due to increasing postage fees and cost of materials when printing plans and documents, if plans are not provided for initial review or subsequent revisions, a minimum of 1 hour of clerical will be charged for us to print your information in order to perform a plan review or to review revised sets.

Additionally, if large sets of plans and/or permit packets are to be mailed back, the Building Department will send you an invoice for the postage and supply costs.

Due to increasing postage fees and cost of materials when printing plans and documents, if plans are not provided for initial review or subsequent revisions, a minimum of 1 hour of clerical will be charged for us to print your information in order to perform a plan review or to review revised sets.

Additionally, if large sets of plans and/or permit packets are to be mailed back, the Building Department will send you an invoice for the postage and supply costs.

Protection orders where domestic relationship is involved or there are children in common, should begin in the County Clerk’s Office.

To ask the court to lift a no contact order that originated in a felony criminal file, a Superior Court Criminal Motion Form is required. 

To ask the court to lift a non-criminal no contact order you will need to file a Superior Court Civil Motion Form and Note for Civil Motion Docket  Form.  

Draft mode - answer to be drafted.

After hour support is available for urgent support by calling the IT and Budget Director at (509) 773-2331.  If not answered, leave a detailed voice message including a call back phone number and brief description of your issue.  The Director will receive a text and email translation of your message and will return your call as soon as possible.

Comm FAQ Test A1

Each voter has a single active record in the statewide voter registration database (VoteWA). 

All 39 County Election Offices and the Secretary of State’s Office participate in maintaining the database.  The counties and the state work in conjunction with each other to identify potential duplicate voters, deceased voters, voters who have moved from one county to another or out of state and voters currently under the confinement of the Department of Corrections. 

Constantly!  Information used to maintain the database includes address forwarding information from the United States Postal Service, the Social Security Administration, Washington State Department of Health, local obituaries, Electronic Registration Information Center “ERIC” reports, The Washington State Department of Corrections and of course voters themselves.  Many times, the reason you receive a replacement or reissued ballot is because an elections official found something in your registration that needed correcting or updating.  If this discovery was made during a voting period, the system will automatically generate a new ballot – even if there are no actual changes to the ballot. 

When a ballot is received by an Elections Office, the signature is compared to the voter’s registration and the voter’s record is marked as having returned a ballot.  If the voter attempts to return an additional ballot, the system rejects the ballot and warns the election official that a ballot has already been returned. 

There are two reasons why a voter would get a second ballot.  Either you, the voter, requested one or something in your voter registration changed.  The change may have been something as simple as changing Hwy 142 to Highway 142.  Standardizing addresses in the system increases the likelihood that registrations that are questionable for one reason or another are discovered and validated or corrected.

Ballots are mailed no less than 18 days before the election.  The ballot and mailing labels are created three to four weeks prior to that mailing to allow the vendor sufficient time to get ballots printed, assembled and mailed to every registered voter within that 18-day window.  That is a large window of time (approximately 45 days) that voters have to make changes to their names or addresses.  When a change is made in the system, whether by the voter themselves, the State or a County Auditor’s Office, the voter registration system automatically generates an updated ballot – even if there are no actual changes to the ballot. 

Voters can update their registration information online or by mail up to 8 days prior to an election.  They can update their registration in person up until 8 p.m. on election day. 

No.  Your registration information will not be updated in the system until after the election has been certified. 

A replacement ballot is issued because either your name changed, you have a new mailing address or you requested a replacement.  The replacement ballot is the same ballot style and precinct and contains the same races and measures.  The replacement ballot contains an explanation as to why you are receiving the new ballot and includes our contact information for any questions you may have. 

Ballots are reissued when your residential address has changed after ballots were mailed.  “Mailed” in this case means when the mailing labels were created.  In many cases, this change in residential address has changed your precinct.  The reissued ballot is the correct ballot for your address.  The change in precinct, may or may not change the races and measures on the ballot.  The reissued ballot contains an explanation as to why you are receiving the new ballot and includes our contact information for any questions you may have. 

The first ballot is “suspended” in the system and the second ballot becomes the official ballot.

If only the original ballot is returned, the original ballot is reinstated and the replacement/reissued ballot is suspended and the applicable races and measures from the first ballot are then tabulated.  In any event, the voter is credited for voting, and only one ballot is counted per registered voter. 

Only the corrected (replacement or reissued) ballot is counted.

Yes, mistakes happen.  But mistakes don’t mean fraud.  This is where we rely on the voter to let us know if they’ve received a ballot in error.  We value the integrity of the election process and will happily and willingly investigate any concerns

The voter registration system, the ballot “build” system, and the ballot tabulation systems are separate, independent systems.  Ballots are serialized and no one serial number can be counted twice.  Additionally, the tabulation system knows the range of serial numbers printed and will not tabulate serial numbers outside that range.   You cannot have more ballots tabulated than registered voters and you can’t have more ballots tabulated than voters credited for having returned their ballot.  County Auditors must account for every ballot received.  This reconciliation must be presented to the County Canvassing Board when the election is certified and made available to the public.  If there is a discrepancy, the County Auditor must provide an explanation. County election procedures are reviewed by the Secretary of State and the Auditor or County Canvassing Board must take corrective action for any problems uncovered during the review.  The Secretary of State must verify that corrective action was taken. 

Contact our office by phone: 509-773-4001 or email: voting@klickitatcounty.org. 

The voting process in Washington State is complex and there is a lot that goes into it.  That is why we invite and encourage people to come in and observe the process at any stage.  We are always willing to answer questions and explain the process.   The Secretary of State’s website also contains a wealth of information about voting in Washington.  For more information check out https://ericstates.org/; https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections#voters; http://klickitatcounty.org/1136/ElectionsVoter-Registration; call or stop by and visit. We could talk elections all day!