King County leaders push new sales tax for cops, courts

Members of the Metropolitan King County Council moved quickly on Friday to address a looming budget deficit, pushing for a new sales tax to help fund the county’s legal system.

Councilmembers Rod Dembowski and Girmay Zahilay began advocating for the tax before the new state law that would authorize the local tax was even finalized.

The 0.1% sales tax (10 cents on every $100 purchase) would be used to fund sheriff’s deputies, public defenders, court operations and behavioral health diversion programs.

“Our ability to meet the rising costs of these services with our primary revenue source, property tax, has been restricted for over two decades, and the ticking time bomb is now detonating,” Dembowski said in a prepared statement.

County property tax revenues can grow by no more than 1% each year (plus new construction), which local leaders say has effectively shrunk their coffers as inflation in recent years has far outpaced 1%.

County leaders have been warning of a budget shortfall for years, and have asked lawmakers in Olympia for more options to help them raise revenue. Legislators, this week, complied.

The Legislature, in a vote that drew some bipartisan support, finalized House Bill 2015, which creates a state grant program to help fund local law enforcement and also authorizes cities and counties to pass a new sales tax to fund law enforcement and the legal system. To qualify for the grant program, local law enforcement must follow state-approved training methods for de-escalation and use of force.

The legislation is part of Gov. Bob Ferguson’s efforts to keep a keystone campaign promise — to provide $100 million to boost police hiring around the state.

Ferguson has voiced strong support for the legislation, but has not yet signed it.

Zahilay, the chair of the County Council, and Dembowski, the chair of the budget committee, wrote to acting County Executive Shannon Braddock on Friday, asking her to propose legislation in line with the just passed, but not yet official state law.

In a statement, Braddock said she is grateful that state lawmakers approved the new taxing authority that, if signed by Ferguson “will help us avoid deep cuts to critical public safety services.” She added that she looks forward to working with the council to “pass and implement this new revenue option as soon as possible.”

Daniel DeMay, a council spokesperson, said Zahilay and Dembowski wanted to respect the county executive’s responsibilities for initiating budget proposals, rather than introducing legislation themselves. They are working with Braddock on a proposal, DeMay said.

Zahilay and Dembowski said such a proposal would “receive strong support” from the County Council as they warned of an anticipated $160 million shortfall in the county’s general fund budget.

“The consequences of inaction are too great,” Zahilay and Dembowksi wrote. “Cuts to law enforcement, public defense, prosecution, and public health services would reverberate through every community we serve.”

But the new sales tax would also be yet another regressive tax — one whose burdens fall disproportionately on the poor and low income — of the kind that Democrats and progressives on the County Council have long criticized.

“If it’s a day ending in ‘Y,’ far-left politicians in Olympia and Seattle are probably trying to raise your taxes,” Reagan Dunn, the council’s leading conservative, wrote in a fundraising email this week. “I sometimes feel like the lone voice of sanity in our region, calling on local and state governments to prove they can spend responsibly before increasing the cost of living for Washington residents.”