Should Pierce County pass a new sales tax for public safety? Vote approaching
The Pierce County Council is considering passing a new one-tenth of 1% sales tax to fund criminal-justice services and public safety, with a final vote scheduled March 3.
Republicans and Democrats on the council are divided about whether to approve the tax, which requires at least five council members to vote in favor and the county executive’s approval. Sheriff Keith Swank supports the measure. The tax amounts to 10 cents for every $100 spent, with groceries, medicine and certain medical supplies and hygiene products exempt, according to the county.
If approved, the tax would generate about $30 million a year in revenue. Eighty percent would be spent on existing services within the county court system and Sheriff’s Office, and 20% would be spent on new investments, per the ordinance.
If the tax is approved, starting July 1 Tacoma residents can expect to pay a 0.2% criminal justice tax as the Tacoma City Council recently approved its own 0.1% criminal justice sales tax that goes into effect April 1. Pierce County could start spending the newly collected tax revenue on Sept. 1, per council documents.
As previously reported by The News Tribune, in November Pierce County approved a $3.5 billion budget for 2026-2027, with more than 76% of the general fund budget going towards public safety, including the Sheriff’s Office, courts systems and juvenile services. Property and sales tax are the largest sources of revenue for the county. County projections show the county’s reserves will fall below recommended levels after 2029, said Executive Ryan Mello when presenting the 2026-2027 budget.
At a committee of the whole meeting on Feb. 18, council chair Jani Hitchen (who sponsored the proposal with council member Robyn Denson) said two of her largest concerns are that the county has no plan or funding source to replace two facilities the county is required to have by law: a juvenile justice detention center and a jail. Both Remann Hall and the Pierce County Jail have been in need of major repairs for years, as previously reported by The News Tribune.
“Our systems are starting to fail,” Hitchen said Feb. 18. “The further down the road we kick that can, the higher the costs will go. And at the end of the day, if this [tax] makes sure that we can get those two facilities built, it is worth it to taxpayers of Pierce County. Our next census, we will most likely be over a million people. We do not have room in our facilities, and we are having to get creative. And creative is not what we want to do when we are trying to keep the community safe.”
Hitchen said the tax would allow the county to offer retention bonuses to corrections staff, “which we were not able to do in the last budget.”
Like elsewhere in the state and at the national level, government officials in Pierce County are grappling with how to prevent a future funding deficit as costs outpace revenue. Other economic uncertainties include the end of COVID-19 pandemic relief funding, federal budget cuts and grant losses or rescissions, limited revenue streams that aren’t keeping pace with costs, recent state laws “that are costly to implement” and state budget challenges, said Mello, as previously reported by The News Tribune.
“Without new, stable, and ongoing revenue, Pierce County will be unable to sustain current justice and public safety service levels in future biennia, negatively affecting law enforcement, prosecution, defense, court, jail operations and related services,” according to language in the ordinance.
Residents seem split about the idea.
More than 700 people commented in opposition to the proposal online, calling it unnecessary taxation they could not afford amid rising costs. Ten more expressed their opposition in the public hearing on Feb. 18 while six spoke in favor. Those who spoke in favor of the ordinance said the tax is essential to modernize Pierce County’s public-safety system, create a more stable funding source for essential services and invest in credible programs that divert people from the justice system.
All four Democrats on the council voted in favor of forwarding the action along to March 3, and all three Republicans opposed. There will be another public hearing on March 3 before the final vote.
Sheriff says tax is ‘very important’ for community safety
In an interview Feb. 19, Swank told The News Tribune he had spoken with council members and believed at least one Republican will vote in favor of the tax.
“I support it. Which is against my typical, usual self. I’m anti-raising taxes, but in this case, I think it’s very important,” Swank said. “When people say to me, ‘Well, we need to make sure our communities are safe,’ I have the responsibility to think about the best way to do it. And this is the best way.”
Swank was part of a Justice and Public Safety Funding Group that submitted the tax proposal to the County Council in January. The group included representatives from the offices of prosecuting attorney, sheriff, executive, finance and county clerk.
Corrections staff don’t wear body cameras in the jail, Swank said. With the new tax, the Sheriff’s Office would receive funding to change that.
“People die in the jail, people get hurt in the jail. We need to have body cameras, A) to see, are people doing the right thing? and, B) to be able to let the community know, or any civil litigation know, that we did the right thing,” Swank said. “We have lawsuits filed on us all the time. The most litigious part of the whole county is the jail.”
Swank said the Sheriff’s Office needs a new SWAT vehicle and that the jail and Remann Hall need to be “completely rebuilt.” Retention bonuses would help keep staff, he said.
“We have places like Tacoma [Police Department] and other ones that are offering $50,000 sign-on bonuses,” Swank said. “It’s very hard to compete with them over that. So we have to be able to show our deputies and our corrections deputies and law enforcement deputies that we care about them, and they’re important to the community and important to us.”
What would the sales tax fund in 2026-2027?
Under the proposal, a $35.7 million Justice and Unified Safety Tax Fund would be created for 2026-2027.
That includes:
- $21.2 million for renovations of the Yakima Avenue jail to convert space from minimum security to medium/maximum security
- $6.5 million for the Finance Department for digital evidence management improvements, court-case system upgrades, case-management system enhancements and other tools
- $3 million for the Sheriff’s Office to fund body-worn cameras for corrections officers, establish an evidence technology management unit, law enforcement and corrections hiring incentives and a new SWAT vehicle
- $1.6 million for the Juvenile Court to fund body-worn cameras for detention officers, positive youth development programs and hiring one public-records officer
- $1.1 million for one-time $5,000 retention payments to each badged corrections employee of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, subject to eligibility requirements, certain conditions and bargaining with the Pierce County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild
- $900,000 for reentry programs for people transitioning out of the Pierce County Jail
- Eight new full time positions (three computer-support technicians for the Sheriff’s Office, three positions in Superior Court and two positions in the Clerk of the Superior Court office) and 23 full-time temporary positions in the Finance Department
At the meeting Wednesday, which was a continuation of a special meeting Feb. 9, council members asked finance staff and the executive counsel questions.
When asked about how the county keeps track of funds collected in a tax like this and prevents fraud, finance director Julie Demuth said Pierce County is subject to three audits a year from the Washington State Auditor’s Office. Those audits ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations, including internal controls and appropriate use of public funds, she said. The county also conducts internal audits, and departments are responsible for monitoring all the activities associated with their contracts, including thorough review of invoices, desk audits and site visits, Demuth said. All the county’s financial transactions are available for the public to view at https://open.piercecountywa.gov/.
Under the ordinance for the new sales tax, a new Justice and United Safety Tax Fund Performance Advisory Board would develop and monitor performance metrics to guide county expenditures and make recommendations to the Pierce County Council and the Executive’s Office. Annual reports would be sent to the Washington State Association of Counties as well, Demuth said.
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
