Commissioners unlikely to cross voters

Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard may join Sheriff Mark Sterk in pushing to increase the sales tax rate to pay for mental health services even if voters defeat an advisory ballot issue next month.

But commissioners Phil Harris and Todd Mielke say they are committed to honoring voters’ wishes despite their belief the tax increase is necessary.

The three-year, 0.1 percent sales tax would raise about $6.5 million a year for mental health services. Without it, the county will have to cut about $500,000 a month from its mental health budget, starting in January.

Commissioners could institute the increase themselves, but chose to put the issue to a Nov. 8 advisory vote. State lawmakers this year gave county commissions the authority to boost sales taxes for mental health and drug treatment.

Richard said he may still push his colleagues to use the commission’s power to raise the tax rate even if voters turn it down, particularly if the vote is close.

But while Mielke and Harris urge voters to support the tax, they won’t impose it without the voter OK.

“Throughout my political career, I’ve said I won’t implement general tax increases without a vote of the people,” said Mielke, adding he would try to help with other resources.

Where those resources would come from, however, is uncertain. The county is dealing with the results of federal cuts to mental health funding at the same time commissioners are directing their own budget employees to cut $1 million from the county’s proposed 2006 general fund budget.

Asking voters for help isn’t an unusual step, even if commissioners don’t need their approval, said Blaine Garvin, a Gonzaga University political science professor.

Garvin said such advisory ballot issues can be used to measure public sentiment, but also serve as political cover. “In a system that requires politicians to please voters and yet to make difficult decisions, I think it’s a natural thing to see happen,” he said.

People United for Mental Health, a group recently formed to promote the tax issue, has raised and spent about $20,000 on mailers, advertisements and yard signs.

Jeff Thomas, the group’s treasurer and executive director of Family Service Spokane, hopes voters overwhelmingly support the measure so it doesn’t come down to a judgment call by commissioners.

“This initiative is one of the life rafts out there for people,” Thomas said.