Spokane County Sheriff says mayor's proposed tax hike will hurt detention services

(The Center Square) – Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels took a stand on Thursday, calling on Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown to pull her sales tax increase from the ballot before it results in a massive funding cut to the jails.

Nowels took to an informal newsletter thread on Thursday morning to give his two cents on the issue. The thread consists of around 250 local leaders, including city, county and state officials, such as Brown, members of the city council, and business leaders.

Sheldon Jackson, chief executive officer and founder of Selkirk Development, started the thread a few years ago to regularly update its members on the state of public safety. Other business leaders frequently respond, with Councilmember Jonathan Bingle vouching his support at times as well; he even expressed the feelings of its members during Monday’s council meeting.

In his address, Nowels thanked Jackson for his work before touching on personal experiences of family members struggling with addiction and drug use. The sheriff previously cited the issues as one of the biggest drivers of crime in the area.

“We MUST reintroduce accountability to the criminal justice system as well as invest in support systems for those who are addicted or suffer from significant mental health issues,” Nowels wrote in the email. “It will be expensive, but the way we handle this epidemic right now is ALSO very expensive.”

Last November, the county attempted to pass a tax measure that could’ve funded the construction of new detention facilities; however, it failed due to a lack of support. Brown, who was elected at the same time, opted not to support the measure despite a portion of the funds going to the city.

Now, Brown is pushing for a tax that could generate the same amount of money that the city would’ve received under the failed measure , but instead, the county will only get a fraction of the revenue. Meanwhile, the county is asking voters to renew a separate tax that funds ongoing operations for the county’s jails and juvenile detention facilities, which the city also uses.

Both measures are for the same amount, one-tenth of 1%; however, if the county fails and the city succeeds, Detention Services could face upwards of a 90% funding cut. This would greatly exacerbate the already existing issue with capacity, which has led to the county releasing around 2,700 felony offenders in the last three years, some accused of rape and murder.

“We need the Mayor and council to agree to pull back their one-tenth initiative,” Nowels continued, “and work with the County on a two-tenths initiative early next year to fund an entire system for the region, not just fill a budget gap.”

Brown hopes to use the revenue to fill some of the city’s approximately $50 million deficit while mitigating personnel cuts. Last week, she hosted a budget meeting and discussed a list of possible cuts, which included defunding police by $9.38 million, fire services by $4.75 million and more from court services as well.

Nowels wrote that he had a conversation with Brown last week, and she agreed they need to work together. However, he noted that if the city passes its tax increase, it would significantly impact the county’s ability to fund a new jail in the future.

“I firmly believe an investment in a new correctional facility and corrections SYSTEM in the county is at the center of us solving the problems that are currently most prevalent in our community,” he wrote.

Several people responded to Nowels, thanking him for making the statements after calling on numerous local leaders to step up to enforce the rule of law.

“The City Council and Mayor seem to be treading a path well-worn by Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, etc., which may be named “Progressive” but certainly is not in reality,” wrote Rod Bacon, a local businessman who previously floated the idea of a recall petition to oust Brown.

“ Refusing to enforce Prop 1, manufacturing an unneeded homeless bill of rights , and adopting commercial rent control seem to be following a well-defined radical left playbook that has had consistently devastating outcomes,” Bacon continued. “We need to fight this insanity every way we can.”

The Center Square contacted Brown and Council President Betsy Wilkerson for comment but did not receive a response.