(The Center Square) – The Spokane Transit Authority has only a few days to decide whether to place a major sales tax renewal on the August ballot as municipalities across Spokane County urge STA to act.
The deadline to approve a ballot resolution for the August election is May 1. STA is meeting with other stakeholders on Tuesday before deciding when to run the renewal during a Wednesday special meeting.
The Spokane City Council approved a resolution Monday, urging STA to place the sales tax renewal on the August ballot rather than waiting until November or later.
Several other cities have also urged STA to do the same, despite concerns about taxpayer fatigue as other high-stakes tax proposals come to fruition.
“It’s not about trying to see one fail and another pass,” Councilmember Michael Cathcart, who also sits on the STA Board of Directors, told The Center Square during an interview on Tuesday.
“But timing is a big issue, and when you look at STA, we’ve got basically two years before that [sales tax] actually expires,” he added.
STA levies a 0.8% sales tax, which accounts for $121 million of its $162 million in operating revenues for 2026. A quarter of that sales tax, 0.2%, will expire in 2028, so some board members want to ask voters to renew it in August to help STA compete for $82 million in federal funding for a major bus line project.
Cathcart is concerned about the timing, as a regional public safety task force develops recommendations that could lead to another major tax proposal in November to fund a new jail and other crisis facilities.
He wants both proposals to pass, but is worried about taxpayer fatigue after several recent tax hikes in the city of Spokane, concerns around the state’s new income tax, and school bonds and levies coming up.
The last jail measure failed overwhelmingly in 2023, so there’s a lot of suspense around this attempt.
“We just cannot be distracted by other things,” Cathcart told The Center Square. “My crazy idea that I threw out there is: ‘Books, Buses and Backpacks.’ Like, come together, find economies of scale, find some partnerships, find some things that can offset each other’s expenses, and find a good package.”
Cathcart was the only one to vote against the resolution on Monday, citing concerns about timing and the possibility that STA would remove a sunset clause from the tax renewal.
The rest of the council framed STA as a lifeline and argued that running the proposal in August is crucial to securing federal funding.
Urbanist advocate Erik Lowe asked the council on Monday to support STA in placing the tax renewal on the August ballot without a sunset clause.
The sunset provision requires STA to ask voters to reauthorize the tax in the future, allowing residents to assess whether the transit authority deserves to receive that funding.
Lowe said STA is the only transit agency in Washington state with a sunset clause tied to its funding.
Councilmember Kitty Klitzke, who also sits on the STA board, pushed for eliminating the sunset clause during another meeting earlier this month.
She did so again on Monday, as did Councilmember Sarah Dixit, with Councilmember Kate Telis arguing that a sunset clause isn’t the only form of accountability.
“I imagine the sunset clause issue will come up [on Tuesday], but hopefully people will understand that we need to secure long-term funding if we’re going to secure a big upfront capital investment,” Klitzke told residents on Monday night.
“If they don’t, then maybe that is something we’ll have to consider,” she said.
