(The Center Square) – Sitting on another unpaid jail bill, the city of Spokane may backfill the account responsible for covering its costs from the general fund despite an approximately $13.4 million deficit.
Chief Financial Officer Matt Boston told the Spokane City Council on Monday that the Criminal Justice Assistance Fund is now insolvent. Established in 2007, city officials initially planned to use the fund to pay the monthly jail bills from the county, but recently drained the account with one-time transfers.
As originally reported by The Center Square, the city diverted over $6 million from the jail fund during the pandemic, decimating reserves by approximately 50% from 2022 to 2023. Budget staff claims the city’s costs are rising disproportionately compared to the county’s, but data paints a different picture…