SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown proposed another tax on Monday. The mayor says the proposed “Community Safety Sales Tax” would be set at one-tenth of one percent and would be placed on the November ballot if approved by Spokane’s City Council. Mayor Brown says the tax increase is expected to generate an estimated $7.7 million per year. Fifteen percent of the funds would go to Spokane County.
The mayor says the roughly $6.5 million per year that stays in the City of Spokane will be “dedicated to community safety enhancements." According to a press release, some of the enhancements include:
- Spokane Fire - Replacing outdated vehicles and equipment, making improvements to fire stations, and potentially building new stations
- Spokane Police - Relaunching the Neighborhood Resource Officer program and setting up a traffic safety unit
- Community Resilience - Developing and implementing critical safety plans and expanding the city’s capacity to serve the community in cases of extreme weather.
“After carefully considering the community’s feedback, my administration recognized that our initial levy proposal placed too much of a financial burden on our residents. While we are still facing a severe budget deficit, this approach gets us back on track while making the safety investments our community wants and needs,” Mayor Brown said.
According to numbers released by the mayor’s proposal, the new tax would cost the average Spokane resident and visitor around $1 for every $1,000 they spend. Several necessities such as food and prescription drugs would be exempted.
“As the City of Spokane puts this sales tax proposal forward, we are also making significant cuts to our expenses to ensure we are using resources efficiently. While this means it will take a bit longer to stabilize our budget, we believe this is a balanced approach that exemplifies our commitment to both fiscal responsibility and community safety,” said Chief Financial Officer Matt Boston.
Monday's newest tax proposal comes just months after Mayor Brown unveiled a levy that would have taxed homeowners $1 for every $1000 of assessed value on their home. That proposed levy will not be on the November ballot after the city council voted to remove it from the ballot. Monday's proposed sales tax replaces the proposed levy from a few months ago.
"I think that's really important to note that it is smaller and it's getting us to the same place, just taking a little bit longer," said Maggie Yates, who works as a deputy city administrator in Mayor Brown's office, during an interview with KREM 2 on Monday. "With that initial levy, we were looking at closing the structural deficit within a year. This will take us a little bit longer doing the exact same thing."
WATCH RELATED: Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown proposes new tax to address budget deficit and public safety (April 2024)