Sales Tax Increase For Jails Passing By Narrow Margin

Frightened by a rise in violent crime, fed up with revolving-door justice, Spokane County voters finally may be willing to pay higher taxes for bigger jails.

That’s maybe.

Proposition 2, proposing a 10th-of-a-percent sales tax increase, was passing by the slimmest of margins late Tuesday.

“It’s a huge surprise,” said Rand Young, who manages the county’s overcrowded juvenile detention center.

“I was going into this election not expecting too much. Maybe the voters are finally recognizing how serious juvenile crime is, and they want to do something about it.”

The ballot measure would raise an estimated $12 million over three years to lock up more juvenile and adult criminals. The money must be spent on jails and related programs.

Most law enforcement officials gave Proposition 2 little chance of passage.

Three times over the past three years, property-tax-boosting bond issues that would have expanded the 65-bed juvenile lockup have failed.

The most vocal champion of Proposition 2, Sheriff John Goldman, said the money is urgently needed to lock up criminals “who shouldn’t be out there on the streets.”

The jails are too crowded to hold violent and chronic offenders accountable, he said, and there is no money available to add more cells.

There was no organized opposition to the measure - just widespread sentiment that taxes are too high and the county isn’t prioritizing its spending properly.

Designed and staffed to house 519 inmates safely, the Spokane County Jail now claims an average population of 555.

The Law and Justice Council, a criminal-justice advisory group, recommended using sales tax money to add up to 200 bunks to existing jail cells and hire 10 more correctional officers.

, DataTimes