Update (2/7/17): The Vancouver City Council has approved the ‘Option 2’ funding strategy for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) that will add a total of 61 sworn and civilian positions to the department by 2020.
Local business groups are weighing in as the Vancouver City Council considers a plan to increase funding for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) with revenue from expanded business licensing fees and increased utility rates.
The proposal would boost VPD staffing by 30 percent – to 232 sworn officers and 62.5 civilian staff – phased over a five-year period. The estimated funding would increase to $12.5 million by 2020 and ongoing thereafter.
The goal, according to the city, is to fill the current gaps in community service in regards to traffic enforcement, analyzing crime data and investigating the escalating amount of property crimes around the county.
During the recession, the city reduced staff and capacity across all city services, including the police department. Those reductions are still in place today, nearly six years later. Since that time, the city’s population has steadily grown and calls for police service continue to rise, but there simply has not been enough law enforcement staff to handle the growth.
“VPD’s needs can’t wait,” said Vancouver City Councilmember Jack Burkman. “The last thing we want is to have crime and safety problems, then try to bring back the safe city we have today. It’s critically important that we don’t fail first and fund second.”
Burkman said the council is committed to finding a stable and sustainable resourcing plan for the police department so Vancouver can continue to remain a safe, prosperous and vibrant community.
Now, the dialogue of how to pay for the expansion begins.
The first option being proposed is a multi-part tax plan that would include funding from marijuana tax proceeds, annexation proceeds, business license surcharges, an expansion in utility taxes and rates, an already secured grant fund, a first-ever multi-family housing unit tax and a first-ever square foot tax on retail, commercial and industrial property. The second option would be a copy of the first, with the exception that it delays the last two components for two years and would completely replace those two components if there was a better funding solution that is developed and enacted by the end of 2018.
The city council has shown initial support for the second proposed option, but the discussion is complex and requires substantial support from the business community in order to make it a success.
In a January 9 letter to the city council, a working group of leaders and staff from the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, Vancouver’s Downtown Association, Columbia River Economic Development Council and Identity Clark County voiced concern that the council is pursuing a “patchwork of revenue tools one department at a time,” rather than considering a more comprehensive plan and solution.
With specific regard to funding the VPD, the group wrote, “We are concerned with the apparent rush to pursue a significant increase in the police department with a piecemeal funding plan. This approach adds greater complexity to city government, and places sudden and unexpected burdens on job-creating businesses and multi-family housing providers – two things our region needs more of to achieve a vibrant, healthy community.”
Despite their concern, the group said it would work with the city to determine a funding solution, indicating that the second proposed option is more favorable.
Ramsey Hamide, owner of Main Street Marijuana in Vancouver, expressed his excitement over the idea of an increased police force.
“The Vancouver PD is the best of the best, and as business owners and residents, we will only feel safer and more secure knowing there are more brave men and women helping to keep our city safe,” said Hamide. “More officers can only be a good thing when it comes to safety, enforcement and community service.
“As the largest recreational marijuana store in the state of Washington, and having paid more excise and sales tax than any other marijuana business, we are absolutely ecstatic that more of our tax dollars will be used to expand the Vancouver Police force,” he added.
The city council will hold a public hearing on the issue February 6 at 7 p.m. and may make a final decision at that time.
