Voters overwhelmingly renew criminal justice sales tax

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima County voters apparently liked what they saw in the way law enforcement and the courts have spent their sales tax dollars.

A renewal of the three-tenths of a cent tax passed overwhelmingly Tuesday, with more than 78 percent of voters favoring the tax for another six years.

"I think the citizens have spoken clearly," said Yakima County Prosecutor Jim Hagarty, co-chairman of the campaign to retain the tax. "They are concerned about public safety and they want something done."

County Sheriff Ken Irwin, the other co-chairman, agreed.

"I think the citizens are sick and tired of the criminal element. This is their voice loud and clear," he said.

Irwin said those in the law enforcement community want to work even harder to prove to the public the money is being spent well.

The margin of victory was much larger than the 56 percent approval rate in 2004, when voters first agreed to institute the tax.

The vote will renew the three-tenths of a cent sales tax through 2016, costing county residents an average of about $36 per year. The measure would have expired at the end of 2010 had it not been renewed.

As of Tuesday night, the measure had 21,904 votes, or 78 percent in favor of renewal, to 6,119 votes, or 22 percent, opposed.

The measure, which will maintain the current sales tax rate of 8.2 cents on a $1 purchase in the city of Yakima and 7.9 cents elsewhere in the county, adds 30 cents to a $100 purchase.

The tax funds more than 100 positions countywide. That includes sheriff's deputies, city police officers, prosecutors, public defenders, court staff, juvenile detention officers, a Lower Valley District Court office and equipment for departments across the county.

The tax will generate about $8 million countywide next year, with 60 percent of the money going to the county and 40 percent to cities on a per-capita basis.

Supporters of the measure, including law enforcement and community groups, said its failure would have been devastating to law enforcement.

Had the measure failed, the positions funded by the tax would have been eliminated at the end of next year.

The election was held now in order to give supporters one last chance to put the measure before voters next fall if it failed.

On top of losing positions directly funded by the tax, criminal justice departments at the county and in the cities have been under economic pressure from declining regular tax dollars.

Irwin said the voters wanted law enforcement and the courts to continue to go after criminals.

"That is at the heart of it. They are saying, 'Kick them in the butt if that is what you have to do and get rid of the criminals,'" he said.

* David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.