Spokane County joins its largest city in considering public safety sales tax to aid ailing finances

Spokane County leaders say they're crossing their T's and dotting their I's to try and fill a deficit closing in on $30 million, according to the latest estimates.

On Tuesday, the Spokane County Commission voted 3-1 to submit an application to the state that, if approved, would open the door to grant funding and allow the board to enact a .1% sales and use tax countywide. Commissioner Al French was absent from the meeting.

Jeff McMorris, senior director of finance and administration, said Tuesday the tax boost would direct an additional $17 million into county coffers annually.

The funding mechanisms were introduced into state law in 2025, as part of an effort to increase public safety funding. The bill created a tax for public safety broadly, while also implementing a grant program to fund law enforcement and co-responder recruitment. Counties and cities statewide must apply and satisfy a number of requirements to either receive the grants or to implement the tax.

The Criminal Justice Training Commission and the Attorney General's Office evaluate applications and certify jurisdictions are eligible for the funding streams . The state has 45 days from when an application is submitted to respond and provide feedback, and then jurisdictions must respond to any requested tweaks within 30 days. The city or county has 180 days to come into full compliance.

Those not in compliance can still enact the tax under state law; it can be authorized and collected as long as the jurisdiction meets all requirements within that 180-day period.

More than two dozen cities and four counties in Washington have had their application materials certified to date, according to state data. Four counties and another 25 cities have submitted for approval and are either awaiting a decision or are working to come into compliance.

Erin Hut, communications director for the city of Spokane, confirmed the city submitted an application and has received certification from the CJTC. The Spokane City Council could enact the tax through council action, but does not have plans at the moment to do so, she said.

After receiving approval, Hut said the city applied for $4 million in grant funding and is awaiting a decision.

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels told the commissioners in a briefing meeting Tuesday the application gets the ball rolling on coming up with ways to close the deficit. He wanted to ensure the commissioners have options available to them that could help avoid cuts to public safety services, he said.

"Everybody here is aware we do have a significant budget challenge," Nowels said. "Not only this year, but going into 2027, 2028 and beyond. I wanted to ensure that should the board want to have all options available to close the funding gap that we have, that it wasn't the sheriff's office that was preventing you or precluding you."

Nowels also noted that in order for the sales tax to be an option available to the commissioners, it needs to come before any potential ballot measure that would fund the construction of a new jail. State law allows jurisdictions to enact the tax only if a similar one has not been rejected by local voters within the past year.

Private and public leaders across the region have been meeting for months to develop recommendations for local governments on how to improve regional criminal justice and support systems, which many believe will include a recommendation to run such a measure. The recommendations will be released Thursday.

Public safety and the criminal justice system, spread across departments, offices and facilities, is the county's single largest expense. The Sheriff's Office receives a large portion of that funding, and Nowels said the cuts currently in the forecast would greatly upset law enforcement operations in the county.

There would be fewer school resource officers and detectives on property crimes, and traffic enforcement, carried out by two deputies in unincorporated areas, would be done away with. He estimates response times would increase by 25-30%.

Commission Chair Mary Brooks said she worries what those cuts could do to Spokane County's reputation and ability to attract new residents and businesses.

"I don't know how we can avoid making significant cuts, and having to decide which part of bone that we're cutting," Nowels said. "We have more sexual assault and child abuse cases than ever, and we use our property crimes to investigate the overflow of those. We push those cases out to our school resource deputies program when it's happening in the schools."

Nowels said the grant funding would also help with the budgetary woes, but he prefers the tax because it provides a sustainable source of funding. He would like to avoid receiving funding for recruitment when it's unclear if those positions would be funded for years to come.

Commissioner Josh Kerns, the lone nay-vote, said he has concerns about the legal language in the application that has the county vouch for the Sheriff's Office under penalty of perjury, because the department doesn't directly report to the board. He shares Nowels' concern around grant funding, and said he'd like to see more detail on how the funding would be put to use, regardless of the source.

"If those grant dollars dry up, then you do not have funding to keep those individuals employed," Kerns said.

Brooks said the tax could open doors to additional state funding in the future; various programs often look to see if a jurisdiction has taken the funding steps available to them before doling out awards. The grant side of the program is also more narrow in focus; the tax proceeds can be used for anything under the broad umbrella of public safety, like the courts, prosecutors, public defenders and outreach programs.

"That's the other point, is these funds aren't just for your office, they're for the system as a whole," Brooks told Nowels.

Commissioner Chris Jordan confirmed the board would still have several months to decide whether it would enact the tax, if approval is received in late July. A vote could come through an ordinance requiring prior posting, or by resolution, which means the public notice would not be needed.

If the commissioners enact the tax, state law would not allow the jurisdiction to collect on it until January 1, McMorris said. The county would collect for about 10 months the first year, for an estimated total of $14.3 million. The tax would provide at least $17 million annually in the years following.

Jim Emacio, a longtime fixture of the Spokane County Prosecutor's Office who now volunteers as a lawyer for the county, said the tax will stack. That means Spokane residents one day could pay an additional .2% in sales tax if both the city and the county enact it. Doing so would bring the sales tax rate in Spokane to 9.3%.

Jordan stressed Tuesday's vote is only initiating a process by which a tax could come, or through which the county could receive a grant. He thanked Governor Bob Ferguson, who approved the program, before casting his vote.

"I'd like to be able to take advantage of those state funds," Jordan said. "I'm encouraged to see the sheriff make a commitment to apply for those funds, and I think the board and the sheriff should continue to be in dialogue in the coming weeks about the budget and to meet public safety needs."

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 7:05 PM.