Sales tax increase on Spokane ballots ask if voters are willing to pay for more police, fire and court services

Amid growing concerns over crime and community safety in Spokane and elected leaders’ struggle to fix the city budget, voters will be asked this November whether they’re willing to raise sales taxes to generate enough money to boost police, fire and municipal court services.

Revenue from the tax would fluctuate depending on the strength of sales in the city in a given year, as well as other factors like inflation, population growth and the broader economy that can compound over time.

If approved by voters, the sales tax increase of 0.1% within city limits is projected to raise about $7.7 million annually over its initial years, with 15% or roughly $1.2 million going to Spokane County in accordance with state law. Projections are more difficult to predict for later years.

For every $1,000 spent on retail goods and services in the city, the tax would cost consumers an additional $1.

Priorities for the funds include vehicles, equipment and stations for the fire department, relaunching a neighborhood resource officer unit, expanding the capacity of the Office of the Police Ombuds – which provides watchdog oversight of the police department – and more, according to the Brown administration.

The proposition voters will see on their ballots has no sunset date, but Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and City Council President Betsy Wilkerson recently announced a last-minute plan to have the council separately approve guardrails ahead of the November vote.

An ordinance ending the tax after 10 years and creating a segregated fund for the proceeds is expected to come for a vote in mid-October. That separate fund is meant to make it easier for voters to see how the money is spent, as the proposition loosely allows the funds to be spent on “community safety,” a point of continued criticism by the proposal’s opponents.

While the segregated fund won’t further limit how the money can be spent, Brown has argued that transparent spending will allow voters to hold elected leaders accountable if the public believes the funds have been misused.

However, unlike guardrails included in the ballot measure itself, a future council could theoretically remove the restrictions this council puts in place. Brown has argued that political consequences would dissuade elected leaders from going back on what is now being told to voters.

Brown announced the sales tax proposal in July, arguing that it was the cash-strapped city’s best chance to respond to the public safety concerns of its residents.

When she started her term in January, the city projected that by the end of the year it needed to fill a $25 million hole in the general fund, which pays for city police and fire, among other things; as of Sept. 12, higher-than-expected tax revenue and cost-cutting measures by City Hall had reportedly reduced that gap to $10.5 million. More cuts, potentially including layoffs, are expected in coming weeks.

Despite progress on the projected deficit, Brown has asserted that expanding public safety services couldn’t be accomplished without a new funding source.

An earlier proposal in the spring from Brown would have raised property taxes by $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, bringing in an estimated $38 million per year. After public blowback from conservative politicians and some of the city’s major property owners, Brown and the City Council removed that proposal, which would have appeared on the August ballot.

The significantly smaller sales tax proposal, however, has won over at least some of the skeptics. The Spokane Business Association, a group recently created by businessman and activist Larry Stone that is championing his longtime goals of ramping up criminal enforcement in the city, recently endorsed the sales tax. The association’s CEO, former city Chief Financial Officer Gavin Cooley, is one of three people who wrote the “For” statement in support of the tax increase on voters’ pamphlets.

Some skeptics remain unconvinced. Councilman Michael Cathcart was among those who submitted an “against” statement for the tax measure, has argued that political consequences are an imperfect guarantor of a promise being made by today’s council majority.

Cathcart and Councilman Jonathan Bingle continue to raise concerns that the proposal does not guarantee how the money will be spent, worrying that the funds could be used to construct a protected bike lane, for instance, so long as the city claims it falls under “community safety.”

Brown has rebutted that too-tight restrictions on the money could prevent the city from being flexible and respond to needs that aren’t apparent today but may arise in a few years.