Another Pierce County city considers passing new sales tax for public safety
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lakewood Council weighs 0.1% sales tax to fund public defense and safety.
- City must hire one attorney yearly to meet 2036 caseload cap, raising costs.
- Without tax, Lakewood would cut general‑fund services or seek other fees.
The city of Lakewood is considering passing a new one-tenth of 1% sales tax to fund public safety, a week after Pierce County passed its own. The city of Tacoma passed a similar tax in January. Revenue is not shared among jurisdictions.
Lakewood City Council members seemed split on the idea during a discussion Tuesday. A final vote is expected on April 6. The tax amounts to 10 cents for every $100 spent, with groceries, medicine and certain medical supplies and hygiene products exempt.
House Bill 2015, passed last year, allows cities in Washington to pass a 0.1% sales taxes for broadly defined “criminal justice” purposes, including public defense. Washington set new standards for indigent misdemeanor case loads in 2025. The goal is to reduce lawyer caseloads from 400 cases per attorney to 120 cases by January 2036.
In Lakewood, the city must add about one full-time public-defense attorney each year until 2036 to comply with the new caseload standards, as well as provide defense services for up to 1,740 cases, per city records.
Expenditures are expected to exceed current sales tax revenue by $2.1 million in 2035. Without the new tax, the city would need to take those costs out of the general fund, which could impact other services, staff said. The earliest the tax could be collected is July 1.
If implemented, the tax is expected to generate about $14.9 million in revenue for Lakewood from 2026 to 2035, per staff reports. It’s not enough to offset the annual contractual costs with Pacific Point Defense (which will reach about $4 million annually by 2035), but the city doesn’t have many other options, said council member Ellen Talbo on Tuesday.
The 0.1% public safety tax is not a sustainable revenue model for Lakewood, but the city does need to pay for defense services somehow, as the right to an attorney is protected under the U.S. constitution, said Michael Vargas, policy analyst and assistant to the city manager.
If the City Council does not approve the tax increase, the city would be forced to reduce services elsewhere, Vargas said.
Council members Mike Brandstetter and Ryan Pearson said they would vote no on the tax proposal, citing tax increases elsewhere in the state and the high burden on residents. Some council members floated the idea of increasing fees or implementing a business-and-occupation tax instead — which could also result in public pushback. Others floated presenting the option to voters, but council members said it would likely be a hard sell.
“[We’re between] an uncomfortable rock and a hard place,” said Mayor Paul Bocchi.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
