The Ridgefield City Council voted unanimously Thursday, Oct. 9, to approve a 0.1% sales tax increase to fund public safety, joining other cities in using a new state option created by House Bill 2015.
The city has discussed the measure multiple times over the past month, including during a Sept. 18 study session and the council’s Sept. 25 first reading. Ridgefield Finance Manager Kirk Johnson explained that the funding could help pay for new officer positions, equipment and training, and to replace aging police radios.
“The estimate for funding at this point is $442,000,” Johnson said.
Councilor Katie Favella said she supported the measure but wanted reassurance that the police department wouldn’t face gaps in funding while waiting for state revenue to arrive.
“If this sales tax goes into effect, if we do it now, it goes into effect January,” she said. “There’s gonna be a lag time because it is only quarterly that the Department of Revenue will send us funds, correct?”
Johnson explained that the lag would be roughly two months, but the city’s reserve funds would prevent disruptions.
“We have a revenue stabilization reserve and we have an operations and maintenance reserve,” Johnson said. “That’s what that’s for.”
He added that hiring would not be delayed while waiting for tax collections to start.
“The reserves will cover that lag so that we can get going right away because there is a need for the community,” Johnson said. “Washington is the state that has the lowest officer-to-citizen ratio in the (nation). Ridgefield’s even below what Washington is. This will bring us much closer to what the number is for Washington.”
Councilor Meghan Hamilton said she wanted to ensure the council retained flexibility over how to use the funds in future years.
“I wanna be careful that we don’t restrict ourselves too narrowly before we start to collect funds,” Hamilton said. “I’d like the language to ensure that money goes to public safety, obviously, but that there’s flexibility for council and staff to determine specific uses in each budget cycle.”
After the discussion, the council approved Ordinance 1459 unanimously. The new sales tax will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.
If enacted as expected, Ridgefield’s public safety sales tax could generate roughly $350,000 annually, according to city staff.
Battle Ground prepares its own ordinance
The City of Battle Ground took its first step toward a similar sales tax increase during its Monday, Oct. 6 meeting, setting a public hearing for Nov. 3.
City Manager Kris Swanson told the council the 0.1% councilmatic sales tax would take effect April 1, 2026, and could raise about $500,000 in its first nine months. She said the revenue would help fund two new officers, their training, uniforms, and equipment, as well as a new patrol vehicle.
Police Chief Dennis Flynn told council members the department was nearly ready to apply for a state grant tied to the same legislation that allows the sales tax.
“The policies that were required were all written and approved,” Flynn said. “There are a couple of training requirements that we made sure that we had exactly what CJTC wanted. There’s training that’s going to be occurring this month, but we’re fairly confident that we should have this all done by December.”
He added that the city aimed to complete its requirements by year’s end to stay ahead of the state’s April deadline.
“Our intention is to have this all done by the end of year,” Flynn said.
Swanson said in a full year of implementation, the tax could generate about $650,000, depending on the market.
