(The Center Square) – Spokane Valley officials are considering raising business license fees this year for the first time since 2020 as public safety costs increase, citing a need to fund a new oversight position.
The Spokane Valley City Council held a more than five-hour-long budget workshop on Tuesday to dive into rising public safety costs ahead of its policing contract with the county expiring in 2027. The city’s nine public safety contracts run about $44 million, with the policing contract accounting for $38 million.
Policing services from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office currently account for about 56% of the general fund budget, as the Valley runs on thin margins. City officials say the annual “settle-and-ajust” process is falling behind, with the county currently working on 2024, making it hard for the Valley to plan ahead.
“All of our other departments do have directors, and so it really makes sense that you would have a public safety coordinator overseeing all of these,” Deputy City Manager Erik Lamb said Tuesday. “We don’t have revenues in the existing budget, so one possibility would be looking at business license increases.”
Some of Valley’s other public safety contracts include services such as the county jail, district court, public defenders, prosecutors, emergency management, animal control and more. Tuesday’s presentation claims the reconciliation process hasn’t been completed for some of these contracts since 2022.
Lamb said he and City Manager John Hohman don’t have enough time to provide the oversight needed for the public safety contracts while also helping out all of the other departments. The Valley created a public safety coordinator position in 2025, but ultimately never filled the role after pulling the funding.
According to council documents, the city defunded the position to offset legal fees as the dais moved to sue Councilmember Al Merkel for alleged violations of the Public Records Act and city policies. Lamb said internal discussions around raising business license fees last year ultimately didn’t move forward.
He wants the city to fund the public safety coordinator position before renewing the sheriff’s contract or taking a different route in 2027. City Services Administrator Gloria Mantz said the last time the dais raised business license fees was in 2020, from $13 to $25. For comparison, the city of Spokane has a $131 fee for standard business licenses. She said the Valley’s fee generated about $254,000 in 2025.
The city of Spokane also charges fees per employee, increasing the cost of a business license to more than $1,000, depending on the employer’s size. Councilmember Pam Haley noted that she pays more than $1,000 for each of the daycare centers that she operates in the Valley’s neighboring jurisdiction.
“If we don’t make any increases to the business license fee, we’re actually going to see a decrease in that revenue,” Mantz said, citing changes to state law that raised the exemption threshold for these fees.
After salary, benefits and a city vehicle, she said the public safety coordinator could cost the city about $270,000 in the first year. Mantz recommended increasing the business license fee to $60, which could raise an estimated $330,000; then raise it again in 2027 to $75, and then to $95 in 2028 to generate an estimated $670,000 annually, which could fund the new role and cushion future reconciliation bills.
When asked by Deputy Mayor Tim Hattenburg, Mantz confirmed that a $95 fee would still put the city among the lowest in the region, with Liberty Lake, which currently charges $90. Hattenburg noted that Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce board members had told him they’re not opposed to this idea.
“I don’t know if I would say very supportive,” Hattenburg said Tuesday, “but they’re not against this.”
Merkel said that he thinks hiring a public safety coordinator is premature, arguing that the workload that staff are under is due to how the contracts were written at the time. He suggested writing future contracts to be more predictable regarding the city’s share of indirect costs and reconciliation billing.
The council was generally opposed to increasing fees, but expressed concern about the reconciliation process with the county. A majority supported exploring the idea, but no formal decisions were made on Tuesday. The city will continue discussing this, including with the chamber, in the months ahead.
“We get a great service from our police department and, in many ways, from the [sheriff’s office], and we just got to iron out these difficulties,” Mayor Laura Padden said, “but there’s more to this than just what the county does or doesn’t do. It’s a very broad issue and a very broad project.”
Sheriff John Nowels and County Commissioner Mary Brooks will give a presentation to the council on March 17.
