Poulsbo council weighs local option under HB 2015 for public-safety funding; staff recommends retreat discussion

City Administrator Rob Gelder briefed the Poulsbo City Council on Sept. 3 about House Bill 2015, a state law that created two funding paths for public-safety and alternative-response programs: a state grant fund and a new local option sales-and-use tax of 0.1% that municipalities can adopt by council action.

Gelder said the legislature appropriated $100 million for a three-year grant program that prioritizes co-response programs, hiring and training of officers and crisis responder programs. Eligibility for the local sales-tax option requires meeting grant-related prerequisites; those prerequisites informed staff's recommendation. The local option tax would be permanent and councilmanic (no referendum required), and the Department of Revenue requires 75 days' notice to implement a change, effective only on Jan. 1, April 1 or July 1 dates.

Using Poulsbo's historic sales-tax base, staff estimated that a city-level 0.1% tax would generate about $650,000 a year. If both the city and Kitsap County adopted the 0.1% tax, the rates would stack; that scenario would add the county share on top of a city adoption. Gelder emphasized that funds collected by different jurisdictions are not automatically shared.

Council members discussed timing, competitive grant chances and the uses for revenue. Several members said a retreat would be the appropriate venue to prioritize uses (for example, hiring officers, co-response teams, diversion and reentry services or behavioral-health placements) and align the decision with the 2027 budget timeline. No formal action was taken at the Sept. 3 meeting; staff proposed returning to council at a December or January retreat to refine priorities and a possible implementation timetable.