Tax increase to help cut layoffs

The Spokane City Council on Monday approved a small increase in property taxes in an effort to reduce the number of layoffs of police officers, firefighters and librarians in its 2005 general fund budget.

The increase will cost property owners $12 on a $100,000 home.

In addition to the regular levy, the council approved special levies that include voter-approved bonds such as last week’s successful street repair measure as well as an emergency services levy, which was approved by voters in September.

All city property taxes combined will cost about $5.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or $550 on a $100,000 home.

Councilman Bob Apple cast the only vote against the increases. He has said he wanted to see a budget proposal that included no new taxes before he would support any increases.

Mayor Jim West said he is not recommending an increase in the city’s utility tax on water, sewer and garbage, which is currently 17 percent. However, he told the council it is one of the only available options for increasing revenue. West noted that some smaller cities in the Yakima area have public utility taxes as high as 35 percent.

The city is being forced to cut $12 million and 142 positions to balance its $118 million general fund.

Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers said West does not deserve blame for the city’s budget mess. West said, “I’m going to take all the responsibility for us getting out.”

The property tax increase will raise about $1.4 million in additional revenue. Both the police and fire departments will get $500,000 of that amount. Some of the money will go to city libraries as well.

In an interview, Police Chief Roger Bragdon said the increase in the regular property tax levy for general services would provide his department with enough money to retain seven police officers. As it stands, the police department is expected to lose 17 patrol officers, but would have lost 24 officers without the additional tax.

A similar number of firefighter positions would be saved by the increase. The fire department is facing a loss of 63 uniformed personnel and one non-uniformed position.

Bragdon said the cut is one of the largest, if not the largest, in the history of the police department. In previous budget cuts, the department lost eight officers last summer and five officers in 2002. He said citizens will see fewer police officers on the streets next year.

In an effort to maintain his forces in the patrol division, Bragdon said he is transferring nine officers into patrol, including six detectives, a drug officer, a training officer and a volunteer services officer. He is also diverting $1 million from vehicle and equipment purchases to personnel costs.

The fire department cannot divert equipment money to personnel costs because its equipment is purchased through separate voter-approved bonds.

The neighborhood resource officer program would lose one position, and the remaining officers would be assigned to geographic areas of the city working out of more than one COPS station.

Currently, the patrol division operates nine overlapping shifts with 16 teams of officers. Each team consists of one sergeant and seven officers. The budget cuts would reduce staffing to 14 teams, he said.

Bragdon said he plans to continue using technology in the war on crime. “Technology is a force multiplier,” he said.