Council delays Parks levy — again
Spokane residents won’t be weighing in on a levy to raise money for city parks this February after all.
The city council voted last night to indefinitely delay the ballot measure.
Instead, the parks department is getting its wish: They want time to work with Spokane Public Schools to address rising recreation demands together.
"[We're] looking at our existing spaces and facilities, and looking at ‘How do we limit duplications of facilities?’" city Parks Director Garrett Jones said, speaking to SPR News before the vote. "So it's really leveraging what we have, what the school district is trying to achieve, what the parks department is trying to achieve, and looking at those efficiencies really around smart government of how we can do better together and achieve those goals."
Jones said the groups will finish their examination of assets and come to the city with a new proposal at the start of 2026.
The original levy proposal would’ve raised $225 million over 20 years to pay for three new parks and more than 30 new playgrounds.
The levy had already been delayed twice — it was originally scheduled for February 2024 but had been delayed in part to improve the odds for the public safety sales tax ballot measure this November.
Land trade proposed for state property in Latah Valley
Washington’s Department of Natural Resources wants to hear the public opinions about a land trade involving some of its property just west of Highway 195 off of Thorpe Road, on the southwest end of Spokane.
DNR proposes trading 192 acres of state trust land to Blue Fern Developers for some property the company owns in Whatcom County. The developer plans to build as many as 1,000 homes on the Thorpe land to help alleviate the area’s housing shortage. The company proposes to set aside some of it for trails and civic uses, such as a fire station or school.
Some locals, including Mike Petersen of the group Spokane Urban Nature, think the land swap is a bad idea.
“Their mandate is to make money off of land. They’re proposing to sell this and take that money and buy a grocery store in Bellingham. That’s not their mandate to run a grocery store,” Petersen told SPR News.
The city of Spokane has applied for funding through the state’s Trust Land Transfer program, where the legislature would pay DNR for the land and then give it to the city, where it could possibly be preserved as parkland. But it may take some time before funding is available.
The Spokane City Council weighed in on the trade at their meeting Monday night, voting five to two in support of a delay, citing the ecological diversity on the land and its significance to the Spokane Tribe.
DNR will take public input on the project at the downtown Central Library Wednesday evening beginning at 6:15 p.m.
Spokane Co. re-ups Real Time Crime Center
Spokane County’s year-old crime fighting experiment was officially dedicated yesterday.
The Real Time Crime Center was created last year with a federal pandemic relief grant.
It has a full wall of monitors featuring images captured by about 90 cameras posted around the county.
Five sheriff’s department employees, including Lieutenant Justin Elliott, watch them for evidence of crimes.
"Most of their job is prioritizing what’s important now. What do I need to look up first? What incidents should I be assisting on? The missing person? The assault fourth degree? The shoplifter? What should I be helping with?" he told SPR News. "And because of their expertise and their experience, those decisions can be made quickly.
"This whole center is about what can be happening quickly and how can we save time, improve service, add precision and eliminate mistakes?"
The county commissioners, who made the initial appropriation, gave the program a vote of confidence Monday by approving a budget that includes another four million to cover operations for next year.
Sheriff John Nowels said the center is staffed Monday through Saturday with a staff of five employees.
SPR’s Doug Nadvornick will talk with Nowels about the Real Time Crime Center on the next installment of Inland Journal.
In ’25 legislative session, WA cities may ask for more taxing authority
Cities in Washington can raise property tax revenue each year by just one percent. For anything beyond that, they have to get voter approval.
With the 2025 Washington legislative session approaching, the Association of Washington Cities hopes to introduce legislation that would lift the cap, allowing cities to enact three-percent increases.
AWC’s Candice Bock said expenses are going up more than one percent a year, and the group’s proposal would help cities cover inflationary costs.
“It’s not a magic bullet to pay for everything that a community needs – all the police officers that they need – it’s just hopefully creating a little bit more balance between property tax and other revenue sources to help fund those community needs,” Bock told Oregon Public Broadcasting.
On average, Bock said, AWC estimates the change in property taxes would translate to an annual increase of less than $20 per household.
Idaho trooper contingent sent to U.S.-Mexico border
Idaho Gov. Brad Little is again sending state troopers to the Mexican border.
In a statement Monday, the governor said the thirteen troopers will work with counterparts in Texas to learn more about drug and human trafficking, then return to brief colleagues.
Little said problems related to fentanyl are rising, which he blamed on drug cartels in Mexico and Central America.
“The troopers we deploy to Texas come back with better knowledge to stop these perpetrators in our state,” Little said.
Idaho State Police director Bill Gardiner said the training will strengthen public safety and protect Idahoans. The troopers are expected to return around the middle of this month.
This is the fourth time Little has dispatched Idaho State Police personnel to the nation’s southern border.
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Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Steve Jackson, Doug Nadvornick, Erik Neumann and Brandon Hollingsworth.