Broad, bipartisan task force hopes compromise criminal justice tax could succeed where jail tax failed

Nearly two years after Spokane County voters rejected a $1.7 billion criminal justice tax measure, supporters and opponents of that 2023 proposal have come together to try to draft a compromise plan to address public safety, homelessness, addiction and mental health, likely with a 2026 tax proposal.

Speakers at a news conference Tuesday underscored the work done in the past 18 months to bring political opponents and disparate viewpoints together for the “Safe and Healthy Spokane” task force, including seven members of law enforcement or the criminal justice system, six representatives of the health care system, homeless service providers, prominent businesses and downtown property owners, and at least two people who led the effort two years ago to defeat what colloquially became known as “the jail tax.”

About a dozen speakers had turns at the mic Tuesday, highlighting their individual priorities for the task force. Some do not often see eye to eye on the criminal justice system. Spokane County Commissioner Chris Jordan noted that he debated Sheriff John Nowels, who was also on the stage, in opposition to the tax measure two years ago.

“And today, we’re all standing here supporting the formation of this task force to help move the entire community forward on public safety,” Jordan said.

The 2023 proposal would have raised $1.7 billion over 30 years through a 0.2% sales tax, of which roughly $540 million was slated to build two new jails, as local law enforcement advocates said the aging facility near downtown Spokane was insufficient to meet the region’s needs.

Plans for the rest of the $1.1 billion were criticized as fuzzy, with proposals to invest in the criminal justice system and various treatment services that opponents argued lacked the same level of detail.

The measure was rejected by about 63% of voters and failed in most precincts.

The task force hopes its broad coalition will be able to avoid those pitfalls, in part by soliciting public feedback during monthly meetings – though the task force’s first meeting, at 9 a.m. Thursday at The Hive, will not be open to the public.

“The first meeting is focused on Task Force organization,” wrote Jeffery Bell, a spokesman for the task force. “Long way of saying this meeting is for Task Force members only.”

Meetings will be recorded, and public feedback will be solicited on the safeandhealthyspokane.org website.

Despite the often-public disagreements between the coalition partners, they all agreed Tuesday that the region needed a coordinated approach to its public safety and quality of life challenges – and to at least try to put together a funding proposal that voters would support in the near future.

“It has taken over a year to get to this point, and that should not be seen as a negative thing,” Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said Tuesday. “I think it should be seen as a positive, a commitment to do this correctly, a commitment to make sure all the voices were included, and a commitment to give this as good a chance as possible for success.”

Nowels argued that the local criminal justice system has been strained for decades by a lack of resources.

“And I’m speaking far broader than just build a jail,” Nowels said. “The criminal justice system as a whole is overtaxed in this region … and our citizens should expect a justice system that does deliver justice, but does it in a way that is humane to those people who do violate the law and are held accountable.”

“And along the way, we have seen that the safety of our community and the open spaces that we experience in our community have degraded because of some of the policy decisions we’ve had to make,” Nowels said.