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While there may have been some tension between the two local governments recently, Spokane Valley Mayor Richard Munson told Spokane County commissioners he “fully supports” the renewal of a public safety tax.
The commissioners voted unanimously to place the tax – a .1 of 1 percent sales tax on everything in Spokane County except sales tax – on the May 19 ballot. The tax, which was initially passed by voters in 2004, would be in effect for the next 10 years and is expected to raise about $7 million annually.
Sixty percent of the tax would go directly into county coffers, while the remaining 40 percent is divvied up between Spokane County cities and towns. In the case of Spokane Valley, the city’s portion is used primarily to pay for its police contract with the county along with jail services and District Court costs.
The money the city receives, Munson said, is directly related to Spokane Valley moving up in a national ranking of “safest cities” from 137 to 84.
“Now, 137 is not bad,” Munson told the commissioners, “but 84 is a lot better.”
The tax request passed with over 52-percent when voters were first asked nearly five years ago.
The commissioners have wrestled with the issue of when to put the ballot question before voters. Despite some thought of waiting until August or November, the commissioners opted for the May date in order to assure voter attention to the issue and to make sure that the state Department of Revenue has plenty of time to prepare to collect the tax in 2010 when the current tax measure expires.
On the downside, the commissioners said there isn’t much time to educate voters about the importance of the tax. The money currently funds 10 full-time positions in the county prosecutor’s office and provides “roughly $5.5 million of the criminal justice budget,” according to Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.
Since the item will likely be the only question on the May ballot, the county will have to bear the full $300,000 cost to print and mail ballots. If it fails, the county still has the option of putting the tax request on the August or November election ballots.
In other news, the commissioners – with Mager voting no – agreed to add the downtown Riverfront Park property where the YMCA now sites to the Conservation Futures acquisition list. Under the agreement the YMCA building would be torn down within the next five years and the riverview property returned to natural open space.
The agreement allows for the county to pay $4.3 million to guarantee that a developer cannot build condominiums on the spot. The Spokane Park Board agreed to pay $1 million last year to block the move, but the city could not come up with the remaining cash to complete the real estate deal.
If the commissioners hadn’t agreed to use the Conservation Futures funding – which will be paid in increments of $350,000 over 20 years – the $1 million initial payment would have been lost and the land possibly up for grabs again.
Mager, however, said she isn’t certain the voter-approved Conservation Futures program is the way to go.
“We were presented with this proposal as being the only option available to acquire the land,” she said. “I think there are other possibilities that should be given serious consideration.”
Richard said the issue has been studied enough.
“We made a decision that will have a profound effect on future generations,” he said. “I’m confident that, 20 years from now, we’ll be thankful.”
Mielke added, “The overwhelming majority of purchases in the program have been for open space in rural areas. We need to be equally diligent in providing open spaces in urban areas as well.”
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By
Mike Huffman
