EVERETT — Faced with a growing heroin crisis and complaints about property crimes, some of Snohomish County’s top elected leaders are planning to ask voters to approve a new criminal justice sales tax.
The countywide proposal for a 0.2 percent increase would appear on the Aug. 2 ballot, if the County Council decides to move it along. The council has scheduled a hearing at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
“The homelessness issue, the heroin epidemic and property crimes really seem to be on the public’s mind,” county Executive Dave Somers said. “It’s not just here, it’s throughout the region.”
The measure would require a simple majority to pass, Somers’ office said. It would add 2 cents to a $10 purchase, starting Jan. 1.
The new tax would cost the average Snohomish County household an extra $94.37 per year, county finance staff estimate.
Without the additional revenue, some of the county’s criminal justice functions could face cutbacks next year.
As is, 75 cents of every dollar in the county’s operating budget pays for patrol deputies, the jail, prosecutors, defense attorneys, the courts and related services. That ratio has grown over time; in 1980, about half of the county’s discretionary spending went toward law and justice.
Somers said the extra money would complement an initiative his office started earlier this year to improve efficiency and customer service. Those efforts began with a pilot project at the county’s permit desk, with plans to expand to other departments.
“We’re not just throwing money at the problem, we’re trying to get more efficient and smart with the money we spend,” Somers said.
Sheriff Ty Trenary said he’s looking toward a consultant’s report released last fall to guide how he would spend any new revenue. Etico Solutions, of Macomb, Illinois, outlined suggestions for better efficiency that the sheriff office has put to use already.
“It really gave us a road map of how we can improve law enforcement in Snohomish County,” Trenary said.
The consultant’s report recommended adding 48 new deputies, though the sheriff’s office wouldn’t be able to hire that many even after a successful sales-tax measure.
In addition to adding staff, the sheriff wants to improve the training deputies receive for dealing with people who suffer from mental illness or drug addiction.
“You can’t show up, make an arrest, write a report and consider the problem solved,” Trenary said. “We have to look at a holistic approach.”
In many instances, the public interest is better served when police and social workers get repeat offenders into treatment and low-barrier housing, rather than sending them to jail, he said.
Revenue from the new tax would be split, with 60 percent going to the county and 40 percent divided among local cities on a per-capita basis.
The measure would raise more than $15 million per year for the county, plus more than $10 million for local cities, county finance staff estimate.
“We have to do our best to go to the public and sell it,” County Councilman Brian Sullivan said. “It’s really whether people want to tax themselves. Remember, a lot of this money goes directly to city police departments and fire departments. It’s a shared value and it’s my hope that people will support it.”
Mill Creek and Monroe already impose a 0.1 percent sales tax for criminal justice costs. Those cities would see their tax rise by 0.1 percent if the measure were to pass.
Mill Creek has the highest sales tax in the state. The city’s tax rose to 9.9 percent April 1. Consumers in Edmonds, Mukilteo, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Brier and the Snohomish County part of Bothell pay 9.8 cents per dollar in sales tax.
In November, another tax measure is likely to appear on the ballot. The Sound Transit 3 proposal would boost sales tax by 0.5 percent — 5 cents for a $10 purchase. That would come on top of the 0.9 percent in sales tax that Sound Transit already collects.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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