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Public commenter urges Spokane County to adopt 0.1% "15‑90" sales tax to fund housing
Summary
At the Sept. 16 Board of County Commissioners meeting a public commenter presented homelessness data for Spokane County and asked the board to enact a sales-and-use tax authorized under RCW 82.14.530 to fund low‑income housing; commissioners approved consent items 3a–f unanimously and made no formal decision on the petition.
Becky Diggerhoff, a public commenter, told the Spokane County Board of County Commissioners during the board's Sept. 16 meeting that homelessness in Spokane County has increased and urged the commission to enact what she called the "15‑90 tax," a 0.1% sales-and-use tax authorized by RCW 82.14.530, to fund low-income housing.
Diggerhoff presented local data she attributed to Spokane Trends, saying the county recorded 2,378 students identified as unhoused under the McKinney‑Vento definition during the 2023–24 school year, up from 1,790 in the 2007–08 school year. She said Spokane County's point‑in‑time count in 2025 was 1,806 and read a range of contributing‑cause percentages she said were compiled for 2024, including 43.7% citing severe mental illness and 33.7% citing chronic substance abuse.
"I'm here today to ask the county commissioners to enact what is commonly referred to as the 15 90 tax," Diggerhoff said, adding that the ordinance she described would amend RCW 82.14.530 to allow the county legislative authority to impose a sales and use tax not to exceed one‑tenth of 1 percent of the selling price or value of the article used.
A commissioner (unnamed), speaking after public comment and identifying his remarks as his own and not those of his colleagues, criticized state land‑use and housing policy and said he opposed new local taxes. He described the state Growth Management Act and subsequent state requirements as contributing to higher housing costs and said, "The $15.90 tax basically takes money away from all and gives it to a few." He also urged the state to change policies rather than rely on new taxes.
No formal action was taken on the 15‑90 proposal during the meeting. The board did vote on its consent agenda: a commissioner moved to approve items 3(a) through 3(f) and a second was recorded; the chair called for a voice vote, commissioners answered "aye," and the motion passed unanimously.
The meeting record shows one person spoke during the open public forum and that the board had received no written testimony for items on the agenda. The chair thanked speakers for using the public forum and the meeting adjourned after routine business. The transcript does not show the board discussing or scheduling further consideration of the sales‑and‑use tax proposal during this session.
