SPOKANE, Wash. – After pulling a proposal at an increased property tax earlier this year, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and the Spokane City Council are moving forward with
Mayor Brown and her administration have spent months trying to maneuver out of a reported $50 million budget deficit, and while the extra $6.5 million yearly they estimate to gain from this tax won’t solve the problem, a ‘yes’ from voters would make a dent.
“This is going to be on the ballot, (and the voters) will have the final say if this is where they really want to invest their money,” City Council President Betsy Wilkerson said. “It is needed to keep our city safe and for all the expectations we put on our officers… we are not going to cut our way out of this (deficit).”
The council vote to put the measure on the ballot was 5-2, with councilmembers Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle voting against the proposal. Their main concern was the broad scope of where the money could go, not trusting that it would go towards the stated purposes of the Spokane Police Department, Spokane Fire, the Office of the Police Ombudsman and the Municipal Court.
“We know from the previous version that there are other categories of spending that they intend to use this for, and this version does not prevent that from happening,” Councilmember Cathcart said.
“The problem is to believe somebody, you have to trust them,” Councilmember Bingle added.
