(The Center Square) – Despite recently proposing her own, Mayor Lisa Brown is asking the Spokane City Council to claw back a sunset clause on former Mayor Nadine Woodward’s temporary tax increase.
Brown issued her 2025-2026 budget proposal earlier this month, which could close Spokane’s $25 million deficit . Woodward faced a similar situation last year but opted for one-time funds among other solutions, which included a temporary 1% increase in the city’s utility taxes.
The city council passed the increase last December with the promise that it would sunset the 21% utility tax back down to 20% at the end of 2024, meaning collection at the higher rate would stop. However, Matt Boston, Spokane’s chief financial officer, asked them to repeal that clause on Monday.
“The current administration is needing to utilize that tool as well in the next biennium,” he said during the council’s Monday committee meeting.
While Brown’s Community Safety sales tax was passed by voters on the ballot, unlike Woodward’s utility increase, both included sunset clauses. Brown’s new sales tax expires in about 10 years, with Woodward’s sunsetting at the end of this year.