Spokane voters agree to aquifer protection tax

Spokane city residents agreed Tuesday to start paying a $15-a-year tax aimed at maintaining clean drinking water.

The Spokane County Aquifer Protection Area tax passed the election with around 74% backing the tax . The aquifer protection area includes a large portion of urbanized Spokane County, including Spokane and Spokane Valley.

Spokane left the protection area 20 years ago, but opted to consider the tax for renewal.

Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson said she was pleased with the results Tuesday night and added that Spokane shouldn’t have left the aquifer protection area in the first place.

“With all of the division in the world right now, I think we can all agree clean drinking water is something we need.”

Those living within city limits can expect to see around an extra $15 a year to their property tax for a single-family home, while houses in rural areas may pay closer to $30 a year.

The tax isn’t anything new for other cities in Spokane County like Spokane Valley or Millwood, but the vote ensured those cities will remain in the aquifer protection area for the next 20 years.

The protection area began in 1985 to shield the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer from pollutants. The funds were used for replacing septic tanks in Spokane County with a sewage system. By 2004, most septic tanks in the city of Spokane were replaced, and the city withdrew from the protection area.

With the city now included in the protection area, the total funds are expected to increase from $1.3 million to $2.8 million, Spokane County spokesman Pat Bell previously told The Spokesman-Review.

The county will first use the funds to pay for the monitoring of 51 sites around the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer in 2026, checking for possible pollutants and available water levels.

The county also pays for education opportunities like field trips to the water reclamation facility to teach children about the importance of the aquifer.

After that, remaining funds will be distributed to the cities proportional to how much they raised. The cities then can use the funding for various projects related to protecting the water.

Marlene Feist, Spokane public works director, previously told The Spokesman-Review that the city hopes to use the funding for more preventative measures like further monitoring for chemicals like PFAS in the drinking water.

With the ballot measure passed, the city of Spokane will be locked in the agreement for at least 20 years before the next re-evaluation.