(The Center Square) – Around 20 officers short, Spokane Valley says it must devote more resources to public safety to meet current demands. However, with the city lacking the funding to do so, local officials may ask voters to raise taxes to fund the endeavor. Residents pushed back on Tuesday.
Last month, the Spokane Valley City Council ran through estimates that show the cost of law enforcement increasing significantly over the coming years. Public safety costs in the Valley have historically increased by 5.2% annually — but since 2021, that’s jumped to 10.9%.
The council expects the Valley’s law enforcement contract with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office to add another $4.7 million in spending by 2027. That’s after the council passed a narrow budget for 2025, with recurring revenues only exceeding expenditures by $411,000.
Now, city officials are weighing every option on the table, including a property tax hike, which they haven’t raised since 2009, and asking voters to approve a one-tenth of 1% sales tax hike.
“Freezing pay instead of giving out salary increases may be difficult for you,” Valley resident Mike Dolan told the council, “but you gave the city manager a 5% raise, and he doesn’t even live in the city limits, so [he] won’t have to pay the new taxes.”
While still short about 20 officers, the Valley approved 10 hires last year after a consulting firm recommended doing so in 2023. The next phase of officers, including about another 10 hires, will cost about $1 million annually on top of other expected increases.
If approved, the 0.1% sales tax will collect a dime per $100 spent at the register. City staff say it could generate about $2.6 million annually for the Valley, covering the next round of hires. The city of Spokane, which neighbors the Valley, imposed a 0.1% sales tax hike last year.
“We’re looking for faster emergency response times,” Police Chief Dave Ellis told the council and residents during Tuesday’s public hearing.
He shared data that showed response times for Priority 1 calls, which include life-threatening situations, up 28% since 2020. That figure increased to 34% for Priority 2 calls, potential threats to life.
Deputy City Manager Erik Lamb said of the 641 people who responded to a survey last year, about 87% supported hiring additional officers. Around 45% supported hiring all 31 recommended positions, with 53% favoring this public safety sales tax to fund the expanded police presence.
Lamb said sales taxes only generated $32.2 million last year, $287,000 under budget, with 48% coming from out-of-city visitors.
“I don’t understand how this survey itself had enough information for us to be able to really decide what the community wanted on that,” Madeline Rogers, who works in the Valley, testified. “I feel like we’ve shown that … [police] don’t have the support of the community.”
Rogers and another resident said police aren’t providing the safety residents want; however, others rose in support of the police but had concerns about raising taxes over potential cuts.
Eight residents testified over the tax hike on Tuesday, with two voicing some support for the measure. The remainder spoke out against it, with some calling for cuts and others criticizing the lack of support for homeless residents and other relevant services in the proposal.
Some residents joined Rogers in questioning how the city conducted the survey, adding that they didn’t think it represented the local consensus.
“I mean, except for going out and dragging people off the street … I don’t know what else we could have done,” Councilmember Jessica Yaeger said regarding outreach for the survey. “I was really disappointed in the lack of people coming out to give their opinion, but now it seems like people are interested when it’s going to hit their pocketbook.”
In mid-April, the council will decide whether to add the tax hike to the Aug. 5 ballot.
