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Staff to analyze House Bill 2015 option to add 0.1% sales tax for criminal-justice funding
Summary
City staff will return in July with analysis of qualifications and implementation timing for House Bill 2015, which would let Redmond add a 0.1% sales tax dedicated to criminal-justice needs; council members asked for comparisons with county measures and implications for residents.
Director Cochran told the Committee of the Whole on June 10 that staff are analyzing whether Redmond qualifies to use authority granted by House Bill 2015 to add a 0.1% sales tax dedicated to criminal-justice purposes and will bring a fuller briefing to the July FAC meeting.
Cochran said that if the council chooses to pursue the tax, the city would need to adopt an ordinance in October to make it effective Jan. 1. She said the estimated yield is about $5,500,000 annually — an amount she compared to the revenue produced by the city’s transportation benefit district.
“We are going through the analysis of, our, qualifications for that revenue source, as well as what that process looks like,” Cochran said. “If this is something that council does want to, take action on and wishes to make it, effective, as soon as it can, which is January 1, we need to have something approved in October to provide to the Department of Revenue, so that we can start collecting.”
Council members raised timing and overlap concerns. Council Member Stewart asked whether the measure should be considered now or as part of next year’s budget work, and requested analysis of how a city increase would interact with county-level proposals — including a county public-safety sales-tax measure and an anticipated parks levy — so residents are not faced with multiple increases at once. Council Member Critzer asked staff to identify allowable uses of the revenue, including whether alternative crisis-response programs could be funded.
Council Member Salahuddin said she expects to consult the city attorney and may abstain from any future vote because she previously supported the enabling bill at the state level. Cochran said staff will summarize House Bill 2015, eligibility, allowable uses and points for council discussion in July, and will assess whether a more detailed study session is needed before a final decision.
No formal council action was taken at the June 10 meeting; staff will return with a memo in July and additional materials before any ordinance is introduced.
