(The Center Square) – Several Spokane County officials pleaded for taxpayers’ support on Wednesday regarding an upcoming renewal that could impact inmates’ access to behavioral health services if it fails.
The county has relied on its Juvenile Detention Facilities and Jails Sales Tax to fund Detention Services for about 30 years. Voters will have another chance to keep the streak alive in November, but some officials are worried another proposal could act as a hurdle.
The city of Spokane is also asking voters to pass a measure for a similar amount, but that proposal is an increase on existing taxes, while the county’s is a renewal. The tax provides about $16 million annually for Detention Services, which the city and others also use.
Several officials invited the media to the county’s juvenile detention center on Wednesday for a tour and press conference to garner more support for the measure.
“The work we do here is entirely dependent on the renewal of this sales tax,” Sheriff John Nowels said. “It’s a renewal; it’s not going to pay for any new facilities, it’s not going to pay for any new programming, but it’s going to allow us to continue the good work that’s already going on in a stressed corrections system here in Spokane County.”
Nowels and other officials, such as Don Hooper, chief of Detention Services, have raised caution around the lack of capacity in the downtown jail, often at a “red-light status.” While the juvenile facility doesn’t share the same issues, this revenue almost entirely funds its operations.
If approved, the sales tax would continue to collect $1 for every $1,000 spent, as is the same with the city’s proposal. Without that revenue from the renewal, the county would have to look at all the legally viable options to cut costs while remaining sustainable.
The state requires the county to remain financially responsible for its inmates, mandating most expenses for Detention Services and the juvenile facility, with little room for cuts. Juvenile Court Administrator Tori Peterson said unfortunately, because of this, behavioral health services could be among the first to go.
Hooper told The Center Square that this reality is also true at the downtown jail. He said behavioral health services, work release, Alcoholics Anonymous and religious-based groups could also get the boot because the programs aren’t mandated, as much as he’d like them to stay.
Peterson said that despite behavioral health services serving as one of the only areas she can cut, those kids still need that care. Rather than provide the services in-house, she said it would have to come elsewhere, ultimately at a greater cost to local taxpayers.
“As great as our staff are, they’re not mental health professionals, and they’re not medical professionals,” she said. “They’re going to err on the side of caution and send that youth out where they can get the appropriate care at a greater cost.”
According to internal documents, from 2016 to 2023, this sales tax generated $101.7 million. Around $55.5 million, or about 54.5% of that total revenue, was used on the juvenile facility in Spokane and Martin Hall, another facility used by several counties. The rest went to the jail.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown told The Center Square that she supports both tax measures but didn’t know about the county’s renewal before proposing hers. The Board of County Commissioners shared a similar sentiment: Brown did not consult them.
Commissioner Amber Waldref attributed it to working out the kinks with a new administration and said she doesn’t see the two as competing, but Nowels thinks otherwise. He said the city’s sales tax diminishes the county’s ability to push for another measure to fund a new jail.
“I made clear that I support the county’s renewal. I would ask the county why, not the county specifically; I think they’ve been quiet about it, but the sheriff specifically,” Brown said to The Center Square. “Why is he questioning our need for Community Safety investments, which clearly the business community and others are on board with.”
The state only allows counties to levy public safety sales at a maximum rate of three-tenths of 1%. Spokane County already taxes at a third of that, leaving the other two still available, which the city wants to use and is entitled to a portion of.
Spokane County proposed using the remaining two-tenths of 1% last year to fund a new jail, taking the one-tenth from the city. While Brown was only running for office then, she didn’t support the measure, which Nowels and others attributed to its failure.
He’s worried that if the city’s sales tax passes and the county’s renewal fails, it’ll diminish its current operational capacity and ability to levy another sales tax to replace its aging detention facilities.
“I think the mayor’s very short-sighted in how intertwined this region is,” Nowels said.
