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Resident urges Spokane County to adopt 0.1% sales tax under RCW 82.14.530 to fund housing
Summary
At the May 27, 2025 Spokane County Board of County Commissioners meeting, Becky Dickerhoof urged the county to adopt the so-called "15 90" sales-and-use tax under RCW dot 82 dot 14 dot 5 30 to fund affordable and low-income housing, citing local ALICE and homelessness concerns.
Becky Dickerhoof of Spokane City urged the Spokane County Board of County Commissioners at its May 27, 2025 legislative meeting to adopt what she called a “15 90” sales-and-use tax under “RCW dot 82 dot 14 dot 5 30” to raise money for affordable and low-income housing.
Dickerhoof said that in 2023, using federal poverty measures, 10 percent of Washington households were financially insecure and that an additional 28 percent of households fell into the ALICE category — “asset limited, income constrained, employed” — meaning their incomes are above the federal poverty level but not enough to cover basic expenses. She told commissioners that “in 2023, Spokane families with children who were below the ALICE threshold numbered 15,919 families,” and that “when you look at Spokane households by age, the number rises to 90,509 who are below the ALICE threshold.”
The comment placed those figures in the context of local employment and services. Dickerhoof cited a recent statement by Dawn Kinder of the Neighborhood Housing and Human Services Division that 95 percent of that department’s budget comes from state and federal sources and warned that reductions in federal dollars could raise the risk of homelessness. She also cited author Greg Colburn’s remark that homelessness is primarily a housing problem and said Spokane’s topography compounds housing challenges.
Dickerhoof described the ordinance she urged the county to adopt as allowing a county legislative authority to impose a sales-and-use tax not to exceed one-tenth of 1 percent of the selling price (in the case of a sales tax) or the value of the article (in the case of a use tax). She said at least 60 percent of revenue raised under the proposal must be used for construction of housing and related services, with the balance to be used for operation, delivery or services related to housing.
Her remarks were delivered during the meeting’s open public forum; the commission did not take action on the proposal during the session. The meeting record shows the board received no written comments on agenda items for the day.
No formal request from commissioners to staff or a referral to a committee was recorded during the meeting on this proposal.
