SEQUIM — The City Council has endorsed a proposed sales tax hike, which would raise the tax within the city limit to 8.7 percent and which will go before voters on Aug. 7.
If approved by voters, Proposition 1 would increase sales tax within Sequim one-tenth of 1 percent, adding 1 cent to a $10 purchase.
The estimated $240,000 annually that would be raised by Public Safety Sales Tax Initiative measure would go toward constructing a new police station and emergency communications center.
The Sequim City Council on Monday approved a resolution edorsing the measure by a vote of 6-1 after a public hearing.
Councilman Erik Erichsen cast the lone vote against the action because he was concerned that while the measure does guarantee that 100 percent of the funds would be applied directly to construction of a police station, it does not spell out that the police station is independent of a new Sequim City Hall.
Erichsen also pointed out that the measure has no sunset date for ending the tax hike.
A new city hall and police station are separate issues, Mayor Ken Hays agreed, while adding that “we would not be responsible if we don’t try to build both.”
The police station could be part of an overall civic center project proposed at a cost between $12 million and $14 million — but the sales tax increase, if approved, would be applied only to public safety.
Sequim now has the highest sales tax rate in Clallam County at 8.6 percent. Elsewhere in Clallam County, it is 8.4 percent. Jefferson County has the highest sales tax rate on the North Olympic Peninsula at 9 percent.
Conditions at the current rented space at the mall at 609 W. Washington St., are deteriorating and it can not be certified as a police station, Sequim Police Chief Bill Dickinson said.
A certified police department building needs, among other things, a “sally port” — a walled or fenced entrance for police vehicles that can be locked so that people in custody can be transferred from the vehicle to the building in a secure area, Dickinson said.
Recently the department discovered that the building currently housing the police department is literally crumbling, said Councilwoman Laura Dubois.
“The roof beams are starting to crush the cinder block wall,” Dubois said.
A temporary fix is in place, but there is long-term concern for the building’s safety, she said.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict, the only other person to speak at the public hearing, supports the measure.
“The strip mall you’re in was intended to be a temporary place,” Benedict said.
“It’s time for the Sequim Police Department to have its own dedicated facility.”
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
