(The Center Square) – The city of Spokane and Spokane County both asked voters to pass sales taxes on Tuesday; while some local officials viewed the measures as competing, initial results show both passing.
The show played out as county election officials processed over 211,000 ballots on Tuesday, with 31,000 left to count on Wednesday. The remaining votes could sway the outcome of one measure, but not both, as Spokane County’s tax renewal currently leads with a promising margin.
The success of both measures would maintain the operational capacity of the county’s detention facilities and potentially bolster public safety for the city of Spokane; however, it could also impact the county’s chance at passing a future jail initiative amid overcrowding at its facilities.
Spokane County has levied its Juvenile Detention and Jails Sales Tax for almost 30 years and will continue. Tuesday’s results showed the renewal leading with nearly 60% approval. Spokane County still has all those other ballots to count, but not enough to close the 38,000 vote margin.
“This funding is essential to helping offenders make positive changes while holding them accountable to protect public safety,” Mary Kuney, chair of the Board of County Commissioners, wrote in a statement. “It supports 140 staff and funds the operations and maintenance of our juvenile detention facilities and jails, which operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
The one-tenth of 1% sales tax collects $1 for every $1,000 spent, generating more than $15 million annually for the county’s Detention Services. According to internal documents, it levied $101.7 million from 2016 to 2023, with just over half spent on local juvenile facilities.
State law mandates most operations within Detention Services, meaning behavioral health services and others would be the first to go if the renewal had failed. However, the success doesn’t solve all the county’s problems, as an increasing inmate population strains resources.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown also put a sales tax on the ballot, but hers was an increase rather than a renewal. Still, it mirrors the county’s one-tenth of 1%, collecting $1 for every $1,000 spent, but will generate less due to fewer people living in the city than the county.
City officials estimate the sales tax should generate around $7.7 million annually, with 15% going to the county.
Some local officials viewed Brown’s Community Safety Sales Tax proposal as in competition with the county’s renewal, fearing the success of one would lead to the failure of another. Brown’s hike is intended to bolster public safety, but skeptics are concerned about its guardrails.
Councilmember Jonathan Bingle has warned that the tax increase would limit the county’s ability to levy another sales tax to fund new detention facilities. State law limits the county and cities to levying three-tenths of 1%, meaning they can only take one more tenth if both pass this time.
“The mayor has promised me good faith, meaningful [jail] discussions and efforts on a lot of things and then reneged on that,” Bingle told The Center Square, “so I don’t trust her one bit, but I intend to hold her feet to the fire on that.”
While the city council passed a sunset clause and fund to ensure the revenue would reach its stated purpose, neither was included in the ballot language. The lack of details allows the council to repeal them by majority vote at any time, shifting where the tax revenue could go.
Bingle, a conservative, is concerned that the city council’s majority will undo the people’s will by using the revenue for other purposes. He wants to focus on public safety, enforcing the law and building a new jail, and he said as much when debating Brown last month.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels and other conservatives have also chimed in about the impact of a future jail initiative. The last attempt failed in 2023, and this tax limits the county’s ability to ask voters to pass the 0.2% sales tax again without the city’s permission.
Leading up to Tuesday, it seemed like many were skeptical about raising taxes amid rising costs; however, the results show otherwise, with 58% voter approval so far. The margin is only around 12,000 votes, so nothing is certain yet, with 31,000 left to count on Wednesday night.
“Tonight’s vote represents a collective commitment to our first responders, our courts, and our Ombuds Office,” Brown wrote in a statement. “Proposition 1 will allow us to invest in the much-needed resources our community needs to address our public safety challenges.”
Spokane County will continue to process the remaining ballots before certifying the election results on Nov. 26.
