SPOKANE, Wash. — On Thursday, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown unveiled her plans for a new levy to fund public safety services across the city.
The levy would tax homeowners $1 for every $1000 of assessed value. For a median priced home in Spokane, this would equate to an increase of $30 every month. It is expected to raise $38.5 million every year for the next five years, totaling $192.5 million.
In March, city leaders announced that the city is facing a $50 million budget deficit. Part of that deficit comes rising costs in public safety, with the police budget rising year after year.
"With this levy, supported by council and by the public, over the course of the next five years, we can not only fill the gap that has been created over the last three, but we can sustain commitments that have been made in collective bargaining contracts," Brown said. "And we can make some key investments in areas that we know, we need to either catch up, like in fleet and fire station planning, or improve and enhance such as in safe streets and community resiliency.
Brown says most the money would go towards closing the existing budget gap and funding existing contracts, but 1/3 of the money will go towards expanding public safety services.
Among the programs this would fund is additional body cameras for Spokane Police, a pilot program for pre-trial monitoring services, and improving the city's fleet of fire engines.