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| Redmond police in the library watching over the Community Court. The Body-worn Camera Program will be funded by the General Fund not the Levy. photo credit, Bob Yoder |
REDMOND, WA – At their July 19 business meeting, members of the Redmond City Council voted five to two (Fields,Kahn) in support of adding a proposition to the November 8, 2022, King County election. With a majority vote, Councilmembers passed Resolution No. 1560, which places a proposition on the ballot to fund a comprehensive public safety program beginning in 2023.
“Placing a levy on the November ballot empowers Redmond voters to choose the future direction of our public safety programs,” said Redmond Mayor Angela Birney. “Our community has consistently requested alternative public safety approaches to address today’s challenges. This levy goes beyond retaining and expanding police and fire staff. It also funds alternative approaches to crisis intervention while connecting our community members with appropriate services.”
The proposed measure would raise property taxes beginning in 2023 by *$0.366 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, which would generate $10.4 million per year. This would cost the median Redmond homeowner $30.50 a month or $366 a year, based on the City’s 2021 average home assessed value of one million dollars.
Redmond voters last passed a public safety levy in 2007. By state law, revenue from the levy is limited to a 1% increase per year, while expenses have increased approximately 5% per year. As a result of expenses outpacing revenue, the City is proposing a new levy to maintain the existing services and fund innovative service enhancements requested by the community.
“The 2007 levy no longer supports the services our changing city needs,” said Mayor Birney. “Now is the time to strategically invest in our growing community and address our evolving public safety needs. The proposal before the voters will strengthen the community through innovative programs that provide safety, stability, and resources for anyone in crisis.”
If approved, the new revenues would fund the traditional and innovative safety approaches outlined in Redmond’s Comprehensive Public Safety Plan, including: Hiring additional personnel to increase mental and behavioral health services, crisis response, and resources to support special need community members.
- Enhancing mobile health services through the Fire Department
- Expanding fire personnel to increase fire suppression capabilities within Redmond
- Adding police personnel to support rapid response to a growing and changing community
- Reinvesting in the fire and police personnel supported by the 2007 property tax levy lid lift
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I am not very happy with this resolution. Council isn't honest about the Body-worn Camera Program as being entirely funded by the General Fund / One-Time money. In fact, the ongoing expenses of the program will be on the ballot this year! Funding 6 mental health specialists to work the streets, including one mental professional and five social workers/case managers is imperative.
-- Bob Yoder, 7/25/2022 Updated 10/29/2022
Going from 1 mental health social worker to 6 is not a good plan, and the numbers don't make sense. That's a 500% increase in staffing. A fully leveraged employee works 2,080 hours per year. The hours worked will increase to 12,480 for 6 people. Does Redmond really have that many mental health crises? Does Redmond expect a 500% increase in mental health crises? The demands and workload does not justify the property tax increase that will easily add $1,000 a year to most single home property owners within 3 years. It's clear the City is expecting crime to increase with the new transit center openings. Transit centers are already havens for violence. And it's only a matter of time before the violent criminals trickle into Redmond week after week. Mental health social workers won't add to the safety. The recent murder and violent assaults at the Bellevue Transit Centers back this up. Social workers wouldn't have prevented any single one of those assaults or the murder. This is a terrible plan that doesn't justify the expense. And once again the single-family homeowners will carry a disproportionate tax load compared to what all the corporate apartment building owners will cover.
ReplyDeleteMental health virtue signaling doesn't make it a good public safety plan. Seattle is a perfect case study in that failure. But hey, at least we will feel good about it.