Law enforcement says special tax helps

Law and justice agencies in Yakima County want voters to know they're grateful for approval of a special tax that pays for additional police officers, lawyers and support services.

Sheriff Ken Irwin and representatives of other agencies supported by the tax -- three-tenths of a cent added to local sales taxes -- presented their annual reports in a news conference Thursday morning at the sheriff's office.

Officials say they would be in difficult straits without the money, given declining revenues and a multitude of competing priorities.

Everything from police officers to court clerks to training is funded by the tax, which voters approved in 2004.

The money goes specifically to law and justice needs, rather than being dumped into the general fund for the county or each city.

Some of the initiatives paid for by the sales tax in the Yakima Valley are:

* Retaining 17 sheriff's deputies

* Increasing capacity at the county's juvenile detention facility from 28 to 56 beds

* Hiring five police officers in Sunnyside

* Maintaining the street crimes unit in Toppenish

* Purchasing a second patrol car in Tieton

* Hiring a police officer in Zillah

The tax is scheduled to end in 2010, and Irwin said the agencies would soon begin discussing development of a campaign to ask voters to reapprove the funding source.

The county receives 60 percent of the money, with the rest being split among the cities based on population. Total revenue was $6.3 million in the last fiscal year, officials said.

Copies of the agencies' annual reports will be posted at the sheriff's office Web site: www.yakimacounty.us/sheriff/