(The Center Square) – Spokane just announced plans to establish a Community Safety Fund and a provision for Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposed sales tax to ensure it is only levied when necessary.
Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Brown announced the plan on Thursday; if voters approve the mayor’s sales tax in November, the resulting revenue could go toward the Community Safety Fund, with a 10-year sunset provision.
Assuming voters pass the one-tenth of 1% sales tax, they would pay $1 for every $1,000 spent, except on “necessities like food and prescription drugs,” according to a news release. It’s estimated to generate roughly $7.7 million annually, with 15% of that going to the county.
“By proposing a sunset provision on this sales tax proposal, we ensure it is only in place when truly necessary,” Brown wrote in the release. “My administration has made significant progress reducing our structural budget deficit outside of this proposed sales tax, but implementing it for the next few years will ensure our ability to make new public safety investments our community wants.”
Communications Director Erin Hut told The Center Square, “The whole ask of the sales tax has always been new investments.”
However, the uses listed on the city’s release mainly reflect investments previously suspended to save money because of the deficit.
“The Brown Administration intends to use those to funds to re-launch the Spokane Police Department’s Neighborhood Resource Officer[s], stand up a traffic safety unit, replace the Spokane Fire Department’s outdated vehicles and equipment, reinstate the Fire Academy, increase staffing in the Office of the Police Ombuds, and sustain Municipal Court operations,” according to the release.
The Municipal Court aspect is to “reduce strain on the jail , failure to appear rates, and re-arrest [rates],” according to the release. However, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels repeatedly warned that Brown’s sales tax would do the opposite while limiting the ability to fund a new jail.
When asked which of the “new investments” weren’t previously supported by the general fund, where most of the deficit originates, Hut did not respond. Prior to the question, she said that the Community Safety Fund would act as a special revenue fund and that the “new investments” were “revenue enhancements” and not “supplementing current costs.”
If the city had not previously suspended some of the listed uses, that money could’ve likely come from the general fund.
During the budget meeting, Brown also said that even without the new tax revenue, the $25 million deficit has now been reduced to roughly $10.9 million. Although, this ignores the approximately $20 million in depleted General Fund reserves.
Councilmember Michael Cathcart raised an issue with the proposed sunset provision, which could end tax collection after ten years. He said that the administration had an opportunity to include an end date when initially proposing the tax but decided not to for a more indefinite period instead.
According to slides presented during the budget meeting, Brown's proposed tax would generate roughly $69.26 million before reaching the 10-year sunset provision.
“This proposal will ensure transparency, accountability, and the opportunity to give taxpayers confidence that this potential sales tax will be carefully reviewed and justified in its use,” Wilkerson wrote in the release.
The Spokane City Council will vote over whether to create the new Community Safety Fund and sunset provision in the coming weeks.
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