The group studying heritage funding in King County has accepted principles suggested by AKCHO for distributing funds collected under HB 1386. The Historic Preservation and Historical Programs Advisory Task Force met in January to continue deliberations on a report due on March 1. The task force was created by the King County Council last year.

In 2007, the AKCHO board of directors asked that funds generated by the document filing fee earmarked for preservation, historical programs, and preservation of historic documents be available to all heritage and preservation organizations and programs in the county. And AKCHO asked that HB 1386 revenue supplement, not supplant, traditional funding of preservation and heritage activities by King County. The task force members agreed with these principles.

The task force expanded on the AKCHO principles, such as making local, state, and federal landmarks eligible for HB 1386 funding. The task force also recommended that funding be targeted to the greatest needs without regard to geographic distribution within the county. Principles accepted by the task force also included a desire to expand capacity within organizations, and that fund expenditures result in a public benefit. In addition to discussing these principles, the task force heard a presentation from Karen Gordon, the City of Seattle’s historic preservation officer.

The task force is expected to discuss the funding principles further before formally submitting a report to the county council in March. The task force welcomes public testimony on the issues in person or online. The next scheduled meeting of the funding task force is 10 AM on February 5 in the King County Courthouse, 12th floor. More information about the task force’s activities is available at www.kingcounty.gov/council/issues/hptaskforce.aspx. The document filing fee is expected to generate $550,000 in 2010 for heritage and historic preservation.