EVERETT — A few pennies more in sales tax on purchases in Snohomish County is expected to funnel millions of dollars in coming years into drug treatment programs and services for mentally ill people.
The Snohomish County Council on Wednesday approved raising the county sales tax by one tenth of 1 percent on purchases made in the county. That’s an additional penny on each $10 spent.
The tax will begin April 1, and could add up to $52.8 million over the next five years for the people experts say are among the county’s most vulnerable people.
“This is a public safety issue,” Councilman Dave Gossett said before he voted in favor of the tax. “This is an issue of whether we treat people or put people in jail to keep them cycling through the system. But most important, it’s an issue of simple humanity.”
The council approved the tax to expand existing services and create new ways to treat drug addicted and mentally ill people, Gossett said. But the nationwide economic crisis could threaten that plan if state and federal money that pays for those services is cut.
“We’re concerned because the budget situation at both the state and federal level is very difficult,” Gossett said.
Dozens of mental health and drug treatment workers, former drug addicts and family members who have seen their loved ones suffer through addiction signed up to urge the council to approve the tax. As the 10 a.m. public hearing stretched toward noon, council chairman Dave Somers asked if there was anyone in the packed room waiting to speak in opposition of the tax. No one responded. With a nine-page list of names of people still waiting to speak, Somers asked the crowd for permission to move forward with the vote.
Somers, Gossett and Councilman Brian Sullivan all voted to approve the tax as the crowd applauded. Councilmen John Koster and Mike Cooper weren’t at Wednesday’s meeting.
State lawmakers in 2005 authorized counties to implement the tax to pay for new and expand existing mental health and alcohol and drug addiction programs. The Snohomish County Council early this year hired Janelle Sgrignoli to develop a plan on how the money would be spent. Sgrignoli was the county’s human services director until a year ago, when she was abruptly fired by County Executive Aaron Reardon. She had worked for the county since 1983.
Sgrignoli’s plan includes $7.8 million for triage centers over the next five years. If built, the centers would allow sheriff’s deputies to drop off for treatment people who are drug addicted or mentally ill. Currently, deputies either take those people to jail or wait with them for hours in emergency rooms, Gossett said.
Triage centers would be equipped to immediately accept people who have committed or are likely to commit crimes because of their mental illness or drug addiction, Gossett said. The sheriff’s office would save money over time because deputies wouldn’t be forced to spend time admitting people into jail or waiting in emergency rooms, he said.
Treatment at triage centers would also be much cheaper than sending people to jail or the hospital, Gossett said.
He plans to push hard to make sure the sales tax dollars will be used to build such a center.
“It’s a real high priority for a lot of segments in the community,” he said. “For law enforcement, for the families of people who get picked up and for the people who have been through the system, it’s a much better alternative than jail.”
The county’s drug court programs also are slated to get extra money from the tax. Those programs, which give drug addicts with criminal histories a chance at rehabilitation in lieu of jail time, were cut back because of a projected $21 million shortfall in 2009 revenue for the county government.
The money also could mean more mental illness and addiction intervention specialists, counseling for domestic violence survivors, more beds for detox treatments and other services.
County Human Services Director Ken Stark warned that nothing is certain in regard to tax revenue. Stark was forced to lay off 18 people in his department. Five more vacant positions also were cut. That means he’ll be 23 workers short beginning in January because of the county’s projected revenue shortfall.
About 73 percent of Stark’s budget comes from state and federal dollars. Stark expects that funding to be cut as state and federal leaders grapple with how to balance their own budgets. That could mean 10 percent or more of the $11.8 million the county dedicates to treatment of mental illness and addictions could disappear in the coming months, he said.
“We’ve already eliminated part of our infrastructure,” Stark said. “If we end up seeing bigger cuts at the state level, it will impact services.”
The state law that allows counties to implement the tax bars county leaders from replacing county funding with tax dollars, Gossett said. But there’s an exception if state or federal money is pulled. That means the new tax money could end up being used to keep existing services afloat, Gossett said.
The tax revenue likely won’t be available until the middle of next year.
“We’re planning to expand detox, but if the state is cutting our money for detox, we won’t expand it, we’ll just do detox,” Gossett said.
He said that scenario would be “tragic,” and the council didn’t approve the tax with the intention of replacing existing funding.
“The plan we’re putting forward is to expand services,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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