Clark County Councilor Karen Dill Bowerman pens a letter to Vancouver voters regarding Proposition 4

Karen Dill Bowerman
Vancouver Resident and Clark County Councilor

It is important to understand countywide impacts relative to the vote on the city of Vancouver’s Proposition 4 that would fund additional city police officers. If Prop 4 passes, there are also countywide impacts that go far beyond the city of Vancouver implications that are in our Voters’ Pamphlet. 

I am an advocate of voters knowing the total cost of a proposition before making their decision on it, although this letter is factual and I won’t hint how I’m going to vote. However, as I write here with information on the large total taxpayer costs associated with Prop 4, be assured that as an individual I am supportive of our cities’ police and our county’s sheriff, and we all know the many reasons why increasing the numbers of law enforcement officers brings positive results for a community. 

Prop 4, if approved by voters in this November election, will add up to 80 sworn police officers and up to 36 non-sworn police positions and a traffic enforcement camera program. To fund this, voters would be approving what is called a “levy lid lift,” or increase in property taxes, of $0.41/$1000 assessed valuation which translates to about $205/year in additional taxes in the first year on a home assessed at $500,000 and $585/year in 2030. (The typical total property tax bill in Clark County already totals $4274 now.) 

Why have a “levy lid lift?” Our State Constitution limits the regular tax rate increase to 1% of market value or only $10 per $1,000. To go above that amount, as needed to fund 80 sworn officers, voters would have to lift the 1% “lid.” According to the city of Vancouver, the levy lid lift would be permanent and authorize a 5% annual levy increase for six years. In the first year, Prop 4 would raise about $15.5 million, and by 2030, approximately $36 million annually. Some people both “pro” and “con” assume that Prop 4 costs stop there, but they don’t. Countywide implications go beyond the basic new city taxes cited above and add another layer of cost increases for Superior Court, District Court, Juvenile Court, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Public Defense, Clerk’s Office and the Clark County Jail. Scores of additional judges, attorneys, correctional officers, detention officers, prison guards, administrative staff etc. would be needed to support the work of so many additional city police. Cities now contribute minimal funding for these $89.5 million countywide law and justice services. They pay nothing towards individuals charged with felonies, yet over 90% of the county’s jail population are felons from all jurisdictions in the county.

The county would become a bottleneck for the additional officers to be able to do their jobs if countywide increases weren’t made. Even at current levels, countywide services are not sustainable. It is clear that with passage of Prop 4, authorizing additional officers in the city of Vancouver, plus the additional deputies likely to be requested by the Sheriff’s Office, and additional taxes for countywide services would be essential and would be requested in the February election. Preliminary analyses by representatives in the Law and Justice Council and by County Finance estimate an additional increase of countywide costs of over $31 million needed by 2030. That doesn’t include the costs inherent in Prop 4, Sheriff deputies’ salaries or the capital expense for jail expansion timing relative to the work of additional officers. By next February’s election, preliminary communications suggest that an additional ballot proposition may seek tax funding for 40 additional deputies in the Sheriff’s Office to serve Clark County’s unincorporated areas.

With passage of the city’s levy lid lift, plus the countywide increases to support the city’s new officers, and soon additional sheriff’s officers if approved by council, plus the countywide increases to support the sheriff’s new officers, property taxes within five years could very well increase by $1,000/year on a Vancouver home assessed at $500,000. 

For information from Clark County, you can listen online at https://clark.wa.gov/councilors/clarkcounty-council-meetings 9 a.m. Friday Oct. 18 to hear deliberation on a possible Resolution and listen online for council’s 1 p.m. Wed., Oct. 23 discussion on the topic as will be shown on the agenda. Even at those times, total cost estimates will be preliminary as they are in this letter.

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