Spokane Valley voters to decide if additional law enforcement is worth paying more in sales tax

Yahoo

4 days ago

Jul. 15—Primary ballots were dropped in the mail in Spokane County on Wednesday, which means the Spokane Valley City Council's yearslong effort to strengthen public safety will soon be in the hands of the city's residents.
Spokane Valley voters will decide in the Aug. 5 election if they're willing to pay more in sales tax in exchange for more deputies, law enforcement equipment and public safety costs.
If approved, Spokane Valley Proposition 1 would enact a 0.1% sales tax on purchases throughout the city, bringing the total sales tax to 9%. While revenue from the tax would fluctuate annually depending on the economic climate, city estimates expect at least $2.6 million to be generated in 2026.
The ballot measure dedicates the funding to public safety expenses, which includes the court system, detention services and law enforcement provided by Spokane County. Proceeds from the tax could be used to hire more police officers or for other public safety needs.
Those in favor of the measure argue it's a fair trade-off that will result in a higher quality of life in Spokane Valley while ensuring the onus of paying for public safety does not fall solely on the city's residents since many Valley businesses, like Costco, are frequented by people who live outside the Valley. The measure's detractors, meanwhile, argue that the city council should find a way to fund additional officers without asking for a tax increase, with some arguing against the need for more law enforcement personnel.
The council has said the first priority with the funding would be to add another 10 deputies to the Spokane Valley Police Department. It's part of the ongoing effort to improve staffing levels and police services, which are provided via contract with the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
In 2023, the city hired Matrix Consulting Group for $84,900 to review the efficacy of the city's police work. In its eventual report, the consultant group found police services have not kept pace with the city's growth, and recommended adding 25 deputies to the Valley's dedicated force, three deputies that would split time with the county and at least two civilian positions to handle administrative work.
The council approved and funded the addition of 10 deputies and a civilian to the department last year by pulling funding from street maintenance and parks projects and cutting some city positions.
In advancing the sales tax measure, the council said an additional revenue source would be needed to fund the remaining recommended deputies. Like many local governments, the city is dealing with a succession of tight budgeting years as sales and property tax proceeds have stagnated, state and federal programs are being reeled back and expenses are on the rise.
City Manager John Hohman said internal forecasts project a budget deficit of $1.4 million by the end of the year, which follows 5% cuts across all departments last year enacted to balance the 2025 budget.
"Now we're at a point where when you look at, 'How do we provide a balanced budget for 2026?' " Hohman said. "It really comes down to either needing to increase some type of revenue into the city, or we're going to be forced to cut additional items, and now we're going to get into potential service cuts to whatever program that council wants to tackle."
Police services are the city's greatest recurring cost, totaling over $41 million, more than half of the city's 2025 general fund budget. That percentage climbs to nearly two-thirds of the city's general fund budget when factoring in other related public safety costs like public defenders, prosecutors and judicial and detention services.
Adding to the fray is the sharp rise of those public safety costs, Hohman said, which have grown by around 5% annually since 2021. An increase of $4.7 million is forecast over the next three years, due in part to a recent collective bargaining agreement between the county and sheriff's office deputies.
Valley resident Rod Tadlock, who wrote the election guide "against" statement opposing the measure, disagrees that an additional tax is needed to contend with some of the city's financial struggles. He believes the council should redirect existing funding streams toward public safety, but not necessarily to hiring more police officers. He'd prefer the city look at automating policing by investing in cameras, speed readers and more.
"There's a lot of things that we have laws on the books for that could be done easily with automation and technology," Tadlock said. "A lot of those things could be monitored and taken care of without having a police officer roaming around."
Tadlock had support from Spokane Valley City Council candidate Mike Kelly in preparing the against statement, and at least one sitting council member stands in opposition to the measure alongside him. Councilman Al Merkel decried putting the question to the voters as it worked its way through the council earlier this year, stating he believes the city should fund public safety and the additional deputy positions in full and then make cuts elsewhere in the budget.
"The way the city spends money sometimes can be done a lot smarter," Tadlock added.
Hohman said there simply aren't any additional cuts to be made without cutting services for residents and laying off city staff members — which is smaller than like-sized municipalities due to Spokane Valley's tendency to contract for work instead of standing up city departments. City leadership have said for decades that contracting keeps the city nimble, the budget from ballooning and services consistent.
Hohman added that the city recently tasked the consulting and accounting firm FCS Groups to analyze the city's contract with the county. He's hopeful some cost saving measures will be identified, and said it shows the city's commitment to making the most of taxpayer dollars.
Spokane Valley resident and former longtime city attorney Cary Driskell, who wrote the statement in favor of the measure for the election guide, said the city prides itself on being fiscally responsible. He would know, he said, as someone who helped lead the city's incorporation effort two decades ago and then began working for the city within a month of its formation. He left around the start of 2023, after 20 years at City Hall.
"I know from personal experience the real, strong fiscal responsibility approach they take to budgeting and oversight of the tax funds," Driskell said. "It is the highest importance for that organization, and you can only scrub for extra funding so many times when it's not there."
Driskell said his experience with the city gave him an intimate understanding of how public safety needs have changed over the years, pointing to the 2023 report findings that while the population has grown by 31% and the nature and frequency of service calls grew, staffing has not matched pace.
Public safety and by extension a healthy police department are non-negotiables if the city wants to remain an attractive place to live, visit and do business as it continues to grow, Driskell said.
"To me, that was the bottom line," Driskell said. "If we want to have the policing levels at a point where the community feels is appropriate, then we're gonna have to come up with a little bit more funding."
Tadlock countered that the tax would be an additional burden on families that are contending with tax increases at the state level, as well as broader financial struggles. If the city needs additional funding, he recommended turning to state and federal assistance, not the local taxpayer.
"There's so many things that the government gets your money for already," Tadlock said.
Driskell said he dislikes additional taxes as much as the next guy, but still believes the 0.1% increase would be more than a fair trade for a stronger Spokane Valley Police Department. A city analysis found nearly 50% of it would be paid by nonresidents, which he said makes it a much more attractive option than a property or utility tax that would fall entirely on Valley residents.
"The basic question is, do you want increased public safety?" Driskell said. "If so, at this point in time, after they've already scrubbed their budget, are you willing to pay this additional property tax, understanding that 48% of it will be paid by nonresidents? That's the equation, in my mind."
Nick Gibson can be reached at [phone] or by email at [e-mail].