By Nick Gibson
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
SPOKANE, Wash. — The budget deficit plaguing Spokane County could affect public safety, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels warned at a gathering of local leaders Thursday.
“The county is facing a budget deficit; my share for unincorporated Spokane County, that deficit is about $6 million,” Nowels said. “Eighty-five percent of my budget is salary and benefits for my employees.
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“For me to cover my budget, without additional revenue sources coming in, I would have to lay off almost 30% of my officers to cover that gap,” the sheriff added.
Nowels’ remarks to hundreds of local elected leaders, businesspeople and community members attending the annual “State of the County,” hosted by Greater Spokane Incorporated, left the Spokane Convention Center in near silence.
The Spokane County Commission will need to close a roughly $30 million deficit in piecing together its 2027 budget, which will likely mean cuts for all departments. The sheriff’s office, employing more than 200 deputies between the Spokane Valley precinct and the rest of the community, is one of the largest, both in staff and, by extension, funding.
Commission Chair Mary Brooks said the county’s financial circumstances can be attributed to a few causes. In her address, she pointed to raises for unionized employees that average 8% to 10% each year, inflationary pressures and an increase in costs borne out of decisions made at the state and federal level.
“Every new mandate without funding competes with deputies, roads, courts, parks and the other services residents rely on every day,” Brooks said.
The raises referenced by Brooks also include law enforcement.
Nowels received a $31,000 raise to bring his salary up to $236,400, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review. Nowels advocated for the increase to the commissioners with much of his argument based around how much union deputies and department leaders under his command are now making. The agency’s four undersheriffs earn a base salary of about $224,000, while inspectors receive $213,000.
The lower end of the command staff, lieutenants, receive base pay between $170,500 and $188,500, according to the agency’s data.
There are limited avenues to increase revenues, Brooks said. A surge of $9 million in sales tax proceeds year over year and more population growth in the county did little to make a dent in rising expenses.
One option, a sales tax increase of 0.1% to fund public safety, will come before the county commissioners in the weeks to come. Nowels alluded to the decision in his own remarks.
“Our county commissioners have a very difficult decision ahead of them in the next couple of weeks as they try to decide how to close their budget gap,” Nowels said. “Some of the decisions that they have to face may be politically unpopular with some of the members of our public.”
The county filed a state application earlier this year to have the option to take the sales tax increase without a vote of the public, a new funding stream made available by the state Legislature. The commission will have a public hearing on the tax at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13 , at the Spokane County Public Works building.
Brooks said the county remains committed to public safety regardless of the financial straits it finds itself in. In April, the commissioners joined several local leaders to break ground on an expanded facility to better assist residents struggling with substance use and behavioral health issues.
The more than $20 million facility is expected to open next year and will greatly increase bed capacity from the facility’s existing 46, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review.
“The goal is simple: lower barriers, connect people to appropriate care and interrupt the cycle that moves individuals from crisis to emergency rooms to jail,” Brooks said.
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