Briefing on proposed MID sales‑tax renewal: staff outline timeline, revenue forecast and engagement plans

Sam Porter of council central policy staff briefed the King County Regional Policy Committee on Aug. 20, 2025, about proposed ordinance to renew the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency (MID) sales tax for another nine‑year term, and he outlined schedule constraints for uninterrupted collections.

Porter said the proposed ordinance would continue collection of the one‑tenth‑of‑one‑percent MID sales tax, which has been imposed in King County since 2008 and is currently set to expire Jan. 1, 2026. Using the July 2025 OIFA forecast, staff projected roughly $203 million in MID revenue for the 2026‑27 biennium and more than $1 billion over the proposed nine‑year renewal, increases driven in part by the state’s 2025 sales‑tax base expansion that added some services to the tax base.

Porter told the committee the Department of Revenue needs notice of renewed legislation by Oct. 18 to avoid interruption of collections and that the executive requested committee action in September so assumptions about MID revenue can be included in the executive’s proposed 2026‑27 budget.

Porter also explained that several components attached to MID‑2 will expire with the tax on Jan. 1: the policy goals, the service improvement plan (SIP) that governs expenditures, the evaluation plan with annual reporting requirements, and the binding partnership agreement. Those components were not included in the transmitted renewal ordinance. Porter said the executive is preparing an updated implementation plan to guide investments for MID‑3, but the incoming executive may set a new transmittal timetable; staff also said the current executive intends the existing implementation plan to govern spending until a new plan is adopted.

Committee members asked how cities and other stakeholders will be engaged. Susan McLaughlin, director of the Behavioral Health and Recovery Division, said priorities and content of a new implementation plan will be set by the executive and that the county has begun broad community engagement and will continue government‑to‑government contacts with cities and tribal governments as the plan develops. Kelly Reiter said city representatives already serve on the MID advisory committee and staff have briefed the Sound Cities Association and individual cities.

Council member Dave Dembowski asked whether any city representatives on the RPC recommended against renewal; no committee member endorsed withholding support during the briefing. Mayor Bacchus pressed that cities be engaged early and directly in development of any new implementation plan and in funding discussions.

No formal action was taken at the briefing. Staff emphasized the Oct. 18 deadline for the Department of Revenue and said they anticipate additional transmittals in September that could include an extension of the current SIP until a new implementation plan is adopted. The committee did not vote on the ordinance at this session.