Like many cities across Washington state, the city of Spokane is facing a public safety crisis. Graffiti and garbage line many downtown streets, crime and homelessness have forced the closure of many city businesses, and citizens have complained of a lack of planning and enforcement by city officials. To make matters worse, lax state policies have hampered any efforts to enforce the law.
In 2023, a homeless camp was erected inside the city, on state property, and month by month grew larger than many small towns. While the city tried to remove the site, the state of Washington drug its feet. In the end, the camp cost taxpayers more than $20 million.
Homelessness and crime in the city have only worsened. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Spokane has one of the highest total crime rates in the United States. Washington state, too, faces a serious crime problem.
Last fall, Spokane County voters rejected a regional sales tax hike that would have been dedicated to an array of public safety priorities, including a new jail. This year, Spokane city voters are being asked to approve their own sales tax hike, aimed at funneling more dollars to police, fire and what the city calls “community resilience.”
The city of Spokane’s Proposition 1 reads:
“The Spokane City Council adopted Resolution No. 2024-0067 concerning a proposition for funding enhanced community safety and other public safety operations such as the Spokane Fire Department, Spokane Police Department, Municipal Court, and Office of the Police Ombudsman. If approved, this proposition would increase the sales and use tax rate by one-tenth of one percent (0.1 %) to provide ongoing funding for community safety, criminal justice and law enforcement purposes permitted under RCW 82.14.450.”
If approved, the measure would generate nearly $8 million per year, with 15% going to Spokane County and the remaining staying in the city of Spokane. When initially placed on the ballot, the measure did not contain an expiration date, also known as a “sunset provision.” But city leaders in September said they intended to adopt a 10-year expiration date, meaning the measure would need to be renewed by voters in 2034 if it is to continue after a decade.
How the funds will be used is a subject of dispute. While city leaders contend the money will be spent on fire and policing equipment, they also say priorities under the umbrella of “community resilience” could receive revenue. That could include climate change priorities, according to some city council members.
The language of the measure gives the city broad authority on how the cash is spent:
“If revenues are sufficient, the Council reserves the right to use such additional funds to contract for, or pay personnel and related cost for recruiting, hiring, training, equipping and employing additional personnel in other capacities…”
Crime is typically divided into two categories – violent crime, which includes offenses such as murder, rape, robbery and assault, and property crime, which most often includes burglary and theft. In both categories, Washington state has experienced a surge, and policymakers have passed legislation that only makes it more severe.
In Spokane, the situation is even worse. In the most recent FBI statistics from 2022, there were 1,541 violent offenses in the city, which is the equivalent of 672 per 100,000 residents. The daily average of both violent and property crimes surpasses 40.
In many ways, Washington state leadership has only itself to blame for the state’s surging crime problem, as state policymakers have handcuffed efforts to enforce the law at the local level.
In 2021, legislators passed House Bill 1054 which made it more difficult for police to pursue criminal suspects unless police had probable cause. Law enforcement around the state complained citizens were no longer stopping for police, and as a result, public safety was at risk. Voters had to step in via an initiative in 2024 to change the law.
The sales tax in the city of Spokane currently sits at 9.0%. This includes a 6.5% state base and a 2.5% allocated to local government. Roughly one-third of the city of Spokane’s tax revenue comes from the sales tax.
The city certainly does not have a tax collection problem. General fund tax revenues have increased nearly $20 million over the past four years – a nearly 10 percent hike.
Spokane’s Proposition 1 would increase the city’s already-high sales tax by more than seven million dollars per year, placing extra strain on working families still struggling with high inflation. The city has already increased its public safety spending, particularly on its police department, without much improvement in the city’s startling crime rate.
It appears, then, that the real issue is not a lack of resources for public safety, but rather state and local policies that continually make crime more convenient. Before taxpayers agree to increase public safety spending, they should demand city and state leaders change course and allow public safety professionals the ability to do their job.
At the very least, any increase in funding should come with oversight strings attached and sunset provisions to require review, ideally within the first five years.