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Council pulls House Bill 2015 public-safety priority after police chief urges voter option
Summary
Chief Alfano told Buckley council that House Bill 2015 would tie state funds to compliance with the Keep Washington Working Act and extensive reporting; he recommended going to voters for a 0.1% public-safety tax instead. Council directed staff to remove HB2015 from the priorities list and return a revised packet for adoption.
Chief Alfano briefed council on House Bill 2015 and the attached memo, explaining the bill would allow a 0.1% public-safety tax with state funding contingent on meeting benchmarks in the Keep Washington Working Act. He warned that the benchmarks would require additional training and substantial local tracking and reporting: “if you’re going to try and meet all these benchmarks, it’ll be on the local municipalities to track that and report it to the state,” and questioned whether the administrative burden was worth the potential funding.
Alfano urged a voter-driven path: “my suggestion would be go to the voters. Let the voters decide whether or not that’s something they want to do.” He and several council members also raised concerns that state-funded positions could be time-limited (citing examples of federal programs that expired), which would create sustainability issues once temporary funding ended.
Council members asked about the size of the state funding pool and mechanisms to access it; Alfano said his team will attend WASPIC to learn more. After discussion, council agreed to remove the House Bill 2015 public-safety item from the draft 2026 legislative priorities and to retain the local revenue priority (item #3) instead. Staff will revise the priorities memo, add language about the municipal code update, and return the list for adoption.
The chief and council did not commit the city to any tax or formal measure at the session; the decision was to revise the priorities list and seek further information and formal direction later.
