SPOKANE, Wash. – All residents in Spokane County will have the option to vote on a new sales tax, which would take two cents for every $10 spent and put it towards public safety and criminal justice, on Nov. 7.
On Oct. 9, Spokane City Council held their own vote on the issue, deciding 5-to-2 to pass a resolution stating their opposition to the measure.
“We have information that is very vague, it feels like it’s an open check to Spokane County (with) absolutely no plan,” Council Member Karen Stratton said. “(We’ve asked the County) what kind of wrap-around resources to those that are incarcerated to get them out of that. There’s nothing there that we’ve heard that can convince me this is a good thing to do.”
City Council’s vote has no legislative effect on Measure One, which will be in the hands of the voters. According to the county’s website, 60% of funds raised will go to the city, while the other 40% will be split up towards cities and towns within the county. The exact percentages for each city are subject to change as the population grows, but to start, Spokane would take home 23.8% of the tax’s revenue.
One-third of the revenue must go towards criminal justice spending, while the other two-thirds can go towards more criminal justice funding, public safety funding or behavioral health funding.
The county has consistently said they plan on using the funds to help expand the Spokane County Jail downtown and in turn, allow them to close Geiger Correctional Facility, which they say is almost beyond repair.
Still, their plan left many unanswered questions for most of the city council.
“Measure One is a $1 billion blank check to the County,” Council Member Zack Zappone said. “They only have a plan for facilities, that’s it. Just a new building. The measure talks about services and behavioral health, but there’s not plan as to what those services are and what they’ll do.”
Council Member Jonathan Bingle, who, along with Michael Cathcart, voted against the resolution, disagreed with Zappone’s assessment.
“It can’t be used for (just) anything,” Bingle said. “It has to be used for the specific purposes that the people will be voting on, which includes a correctional facility, which includes public safety. There are specific uses for these dollars.”
