PORT ANGELES — A proposed sales tax increase to support the operations of the Clallam County Juvenile and Family Services facility is on its way to the November ballot.
The three county commissioners Tuesday passed a resolution for a question to be placed on the Nov. 7 general election ballot for a one-tenth of 1 percent sales and use tax to operate the facility at 1912 W. 18th St., Port Angeles.
If approved, the sales tax increase would generate an estimated $1.1 million per year for equipment, repairs, maintenance and operations of the facility.
Built in 1994, the facility has a 32-bed detention center, courtroom and a secure crisis residential center for runaway youths.
It provides drug, alcohol and mental health counseling, truancy, diversion and Court Appointed Special Advocate programs, and a host of other services.
“The stories that come out of the facility every day underscore the importance of the facility,” board Chairman Mark Ozias said in a Monday work session.
Commissioners had previously expressed support for placing the measure on the ballot.
The proposed sales tax increase, which requires a simple majority to pass, would add 1 cent to a $10 purchase and $1 to a $1,000 purchase.
Clallam County has not asked voters to consider a tax increase of any kind since a proposed sales tax increase for jail operations failed in 2002, County Administrator Jim Jones said.
As a county with more than 50,000 residents, Clallam County is required by state law to operate a jail and a juvenile detention center.
“It used to be there was money to pay for it,” Jones said in the work session. “Now there isn’t.”
County jail and juvenile detention facilities were funded by a portion of a vehicle excise tax that was eliminated by the state Legislature in 1997, Jones said.
“As a result of that, the state, the Legislature, enacted this one-tenth [sales tax] legislation to make up for that, saying, ‘You can ask the voters for it,’ ” Jones said.
Fourteen counties in the state have implemented the one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax to help pay for juvenile justice center operations since the late 1990s.
Based on current spending and revenue projections, Clallam County is operating at an annual loss of between $1.75 million and $2 million, Jones said in a midyear budget review last week.
Commissioners have endeavored to resolve that structural deficit to maintain a healthy reserve in the general fund for day-to-day operations.
For its part, Clallam County Juvenile and Family Services is operating at a $1.89 million loss, with $1.25 million in budgeted revenue and $3.14 million in budgeted expenses in 2017.
The proposed sales tax increase would cover roughly half of Clallam County’s out-of-pocket cost for Juvenile and Family Services, Jones has said.
“We’re doing a wonderful job, and we want to continue doing that wonderful job,” Jones said of the agency.
Ozias thanked his fellow commissioners for their willingness to consider and support the ballot measure.
“I’m certain that this is the sort of thing that no public servant likes thinking about or likes going and talking to citizens about, because we’re asking them to do something difficult,” Ozias said in the Monday meeting.
“I look forward to the next few months, if for no other reason so that we can better educate the community about this amazing facility and the work that happens there.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
