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Tug Lake District News, Annual Meeting Edition

August 25, 2026

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This issue was mailed to property owners and residents ahead of the Annual Meeting of August 29, 2026. It explains what electors would be asked to decide at that meeting and where the District's work on the lake stands.

In This Issue

1. The next chapter for Tug Lake. After years of study, the District's next steps are to finish the Lake Management Plan, improve how it communicates, and get ready to seek funding for lake projects.
2. The proposed FY2027 budget. What the Board proposed for the coming year's budget and property tax levy, line by line, and what it would mean per $100,000 of property value. Electors could amend the budget at the meeting before voting.
3. Administrative support. Why the Board proposed paid help for specific tasks, what the first year would produce, and how the Board and voters keep control of policy and spending.
4. Leadership changes. The commissioner election, and a plan to train a successor before Treasurer Don Olson steps down on April 1, 2027.
5. Blue-green algae. What these bacteria are, why some blooms matter for health, and why a safe reading at the monitoring buoy says little about the water at your dock.
6. Alum treatment. How alum can lock up phosphorus stored in lake sediment, and why it would be one tool in a larger strategy rather than a cure.
7. From study to action. How the District's research looked at phosphorus from the land and from the lake bottom, and what comes next.
8. The resident survey. Why the District is asking property owners and residents what they value about Tug Lake.

The budget and levy figures in this issue are the amounts proposed before the Annual Meeting. The amounts adopted by electors will appear in the Annual Meeting minutes once the Board approves them.