The City of Redmond could receive close to $1.1 million in new revenue in 2012 if voters approve a countywide sales tax increase in November to pay for public safety services.
Facing a projected $60 million budget deficit, the Metropolitan King County Council voted 5-4 on Monday to place the two-tenths of a percent, sales tax increase on the Nov. 2 ballot. Councilmembers Bob Ferguson, Larry Gossett, Larry Phillips, Jan Drago and Julia Patterson voted for the measure and councilmembers Kathy Lambert, a Redmond resident, Jane Hague, Pete von Reichbauer and Reagan Dunn voted against the measure.
“It’s important to remember that the council did not raise taxes (on Monday),” Patterson, Chair of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee, said in a Monday press release. “We’re giving voters the chance to tell us if they support public safety services provided by King County and every other city in the county.”
The sales tax hike would go into effect in 2011, raising about $59 million countywide. In 2012, the first full year of the tax increase, the amount raised is estimated at about $80 million.
The county’s 39 cities will share 40 percent of the revenue, or about $23.6 million in 2011 and about $32 million in 2012. Under the proposal, the county’s portion of the proceeds — about $35.4 million in 2011 and $48 million in 2012 — would be used solely for public safety programs ranging from the Sheriff and Prosecutor’s Office to Public Defense and Jail Health Services.
How much money each city receives is based on population. According to King County, based on 2009 state figures, Redmond’s population of 51,890 is 3.31 percent of the county’s population. That translates into about $750,000 for the partial year 2011 and about $1.1 million for 2012.
State law requires that cities spend one-third of the revenue on criminal justice services.
The tax increase expires after three years if it isn’t renewed by voters. During those three years, Redmond would receive about nearly $3 million.
“With public safety being the paramount concern of people in King County, voters must have a chance to weigh in about whether to cut $60 million in criminal justice services or preserve them with temporary higher taxes,” Phillips said. “Knowing the difficult choice this will be for voters struggling through this Great Recession, I worked to lower the tax burden and add accountability to the proposal by including a three-year sunset provision.”
Along with an increase in the sales tax, the measure would use a portion of the county’s unincorporated area levy — $9.5 million in 2011 — to fund police services in the county’s unincorporated communities.
