(The Center Square) - Spokane County’s top elected officials took steps Tuesday that could allow them to raise taxes without voter approval in the coming months as they face a $30 million budget shortfall.
The Board of County Commissioners voted during a legislative meeting to submit an application to the state to qualify for a public safety sales tax created by the Legislature last year under House Bill 2015.
The policy fulfilled Gov. Bob Ferguson's campaign promise to establish a $100 million grant program to hire law enforcement officers. If approved, Tuesday’s application would open the door to that program and allow the commission to impose a one-tenth of 1% sales tax increase without a vote on the ballot.
When asked how significant a budget hole the county is facing ahead next year, and what the tax hike would generate, Jeff McMorris, senior director of finance and administration, raised his prior estimates.
“Our estimated [deficit] for next year: we're pushing $30 million,” McMorris said, after prior estimates placed it at $25 million. “If you got $14.5 [million], it'd be roughly half of the mathematical equation.”
This shortfall follows $20 million budget gaps that the commission balanced ahead of 2025 and 2026.
The officials typically avoid raising taxes, so they cut 120 positions last year to address the last deficit and turned down a 1% property tax increase allowed by state law.
Now, with less fat to trim, they are considering this sales tax hike, the 1% property tax increase and other measures to balance spending.
The county’s law and justice departments account for most of the general funding and would be most affected by cuts should the commissioners decide to tighten their belts rather than impose new taxes.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels told the officials on Tuesday that the deficit could require him to eliminate 27 to 40 or more full-time positions, which he said would be a 30% to 40% staff reduction.
The potential cuts to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office would impact traffic deputies, property crime investigators and school resource officers, and he said response times could increase by 25% to 30%.
Nowels told the commissioners that the sales tax hike would only minimize cuts, not expand services.
“As difficult as it would be politically,” Nowels said, “this is a way to guarantee you have a way to fund things at a level where our people are not going to see significant, detrimental public safety services lost in 2027; … if I were in your shoes, would I take that burden at hand? I'd probably be inclined to.”
Nowels' request for the county to submit the application to the state comes as a regional public safety task force plans to release a report later this week, which could result in another tax on the fall ballot.
The commissioners raised concerns over the timing, considering that the future ballot measure would likely fund the construction of a new county jail and behavioral health facilities after years of buildup.
“Because I would assume if we were to levy the one-tenth [of 1% sales tax] here, there's no way the voters would say yes to the Safe and Healthy Task Force,” Commissioner Josh Kerns argued Tuesday.
Commissioner Mary Brooks said any future tax resulting from the task force and the sales tax hike at question are separate issues: one tax would help stabilize the system, and the other would enhance it.
Several other local jurisdictions are also placing tax measures on the August and November ballots, raising concerns among local officials about taxpayer fatigue and the risk that residents reject them.
Recent polling suggests that many people are considering moving out of the region due to high taxes.
The Spokane City Council has also discussed the sales tax through HB 2015, as it anticipates a deficit of its own ahead of 2027, and the Spokane Valley City Council is weighing all its revenue options as well.
Even if the commissioners adopted the sales tax increase without voter approval, they would still need to implement difficult cuts or raise taxes and fees to close the $30 million shortfall ahead of next year.
“This [tax] doesn't keep us at status quo,” Brooks said. “This just helps fill a hole that is already huge.”
While Commissioner Al French was absent on Tuesday, Kerns was the only official who voted against sending the application for the sales tax increase to the state.
