Public safety sales tax headed back to Benton County voters. Why is it needed?
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Tri-Cities Nov. 7, 2023 General Election
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Benton County is asking voters to renew a key sales tax for law enforcement funding, and this time they want voters to make it permanent.
In a unanimous decision, the Benton County commissioners voted this week to place the Public Safety Sales Tax renewal on the Nov. 7, 2023 general election ballot.
If the renewal is not approved, the tax will automatically end, or “sunset,” on Dec. 31, 2024, Deputy County Administrator Matt Rasmussen told the commission.
“If we are unable to renew the tax by that date, all the funding will cease and the cities and county will be left with a large hole in their budgets that they will have to figure out how to fill,” Rasmussen said.
Public Safety Sales Tax
The sales tax is 0.3%, or 30 cents on a $100 purchase.
Rasmussen said in recent years it has come out to more than $8 million annually. That pot is split 60-40 with the cities, with their portion allocated by population. The county budgets the money biennially, or every two years.
“Collectively the cities and the counties have invested in 55 police officers and sheriff’s deputies over the past nine years, along with four deputy prosecutors, a Superior Court judge, multiple positions in the clerk’s office, public defense and support staff, including recently a code enforcement officer ... ,” Rasmussen told commissioners.
“We’ve also invested a lot into technology and equipment as the needs for crime fighting has evolved,” he said.
The next step for the ballot measure will be the creation of “pros” and “cons” committees, which commissioners must approve before an Aug. 1 deadline.
The tax, which was first approved in 2014, has not been without controversy.
The county came under fire for amassing a reserve fund of more than $15 million in part with surplus money from their portion of the fund.
Instead of spending the money to help out other regional initiatives beyond what was already budgeted, they kept it in a reserve fund.
Citizens and local law enforcement were not happy with that decision and put pressure on the county to spend the money in 2018. The county ended up accepting grant applications to spend down the fund.
Former Kennewick Police Chief Ken Hohenberg told the Herald that much of the controversy came from county commissioners feeling limited in what expenditures they could approve. He hopes that this time around they’ll clarify the ballot language to ensure they have the authority to efficiently allocate the funds.
“I’m hoping we see clarity in the ballot language so that the current county commissioners, who are all great people that support public safety, ... feel they have the authority to support law enforcement as a whole,” Hohenberg said.
Community safety needs
He believes the public safety sales tax is needed now more than ever.
“I think this is more imperative that we get it passed now than when we did before,” Hohenberg said. “These are times that we need to look at alternate ways of keeping our community safe. I think the good outcomes and the successes we’ve had over the last 10 years far outweigh the controversies that we’ve had.”
While that surplus was spent down some, it was not eliminated.
An Oct. 2022 estimate placed the county’s reserve balance at $18.55 million, which was expected to drop to about $6.1 million after the 2023-24 budget cycle.
Kennewick Police Chief Chris Guerrero said the county has upheld its commitment to using that money since 2018.
“We are pleased with the way county is utilizing the money at this time,” Guerrero told the Herald. “They’ve done the things they’ve said they were going to do, and we’re pleased with how it looks and what the future looks like.”
Guerrero said the sales tax is a small, but critical tool for law enforcement helping fund 15 officers in his department, plus additional support staff.
He said that the funding also helps with therapeutic courts, which are designed to help veterans, mentally ill defendants and people trying to overcome drug addiction.
The sales tax also is a boon for the Metro Drug Task Force, which is run by Kennewick but involves law enforcement agencies from across the region.
“What we’re seeing with fentanyl and the opioid epidemic, having that supply-and-demand chain disrupted by our Metro Task Force is huge for our area,” Guerrero said.
No sunset
Guerrero is one of the members of the advisory committee which recommended the tax be renewed without a sunset date.
“When we spoke about the need (for renewal) and having a sunset, what we determined was, even if we put a 5-year, 10-year, 15-year sunset would there still be a need or not?” Guerrero said.
When looking at the anticipated needs of the community, as it continues to grow and technology evolves, Guerrero said the council determined that no matter what that range is, the funding would still be impactful in the community.
Hohenberg said that he has mixed feelings on the lack of a sunset date. He points out that other jurisdictions, such as Franklin County adopted their version of the tax without it.
“I have mixed emotions on it, because I think (a sunset) holds people more accountable, but my hope is we would be able to entrust our elected leaders to do the right thing with that money,” Hohenberg said. “I like the idea of a sunset clause, I question whether 10 years is the right amount of time.”
Not only does the tax help fund the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, courts and Kennewick police, but it also helps pay for law enforcement in smaller cities in the county, including Prosser and Benton City.
“Being out there and being able to move with action has an impact on public safety. It’s helped our ability to fight crime, not just react to it,” Guerrero said.
The county’s gang prevention initiative gives about $2.5 million in grant funding to community organizations to help at-risk youth in the community.
The biggest beneficiaries for the 2019-20 budget cycle were the Benton Franklin Health District’s Nurse Family Partnership, $600,000; Boys and Girls Club Kennewick, $500,000; and Safe Harbor My Friends Youth Shelter, $400,000.
“It will have an impact on our justice system to have it, and maybe worse to not have it,” Guerrero said.
This story was originally published July 14, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
