The Vancouver City Council is considering asking voters to approve a series of ballot measures over the next few years to raise $37 million to increase police department staffing. One measure could be on the ballot as early as November.
City Manager Eric Holmes on Monday presented to the council recommendations from the Police Community Advisory Committee.
The group — made up of citizen volunteers, along with representatives from the city and police department — aims to address a variety of safety concerns and increase the agency’s capacity to investigate crimes. The committee proposes hiring 69 police officers and detectives, eight sergeants, two lieutenants, one commander and 36 non-sworn staffers in units such as records and evidence.
The police department has 229 sworn officers, but it is authorized for 244. The agency currently also has 49.5 non-sworn employees, and it is authorized for up to 58.5, according to police spokeswoman Kim Kapp.
To raise the millions of dollars needed to hire, train and equip that number of new employees, Holmes said the committee recommends a three-tiered approach.
First, it suggested asking residents to approve a levy lid lift of 41 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value beginning in 2025. Then, in 2026, it recommends asking voters to approve an excess facilities bond levy between $70 million and $100 million. Finally, in 2028, the group proposes putting on the ballot a public safety sales tax of one-tenth of 1 percent, which would raise an estimated $7.4 million by 2030.
A report from the committee acknowledges that if the levy lid lift is approved, the city will begin collecting revenue in 2025. But it takes 12 to 18 months from when a new position is authorized until an officer is fully hired and trained.
“Given this reality, the community — even if supportive of the initial levy in 2024 — is unlikely to see a measurable change in service level until mid-2026,” the report states.
The committee also recognized the measures will raise Vancouver’s cost of living, whether in the form of property taxes for homeowners or higher rents for tenants.
Several councilors expressed their general support for boosting the police department’s staffing. But several said they wanted to hear more about how the additional positions would improve public safety.
“I want to acknowledge a tremendous amount of anxiety that’s in the community, anxiety about feelings of safety,” Councilor Ty Stober said at Monday’s workshop. “But I do want to point out that anxiety is not monolithic; it is multifaceted. Different members of our community have different forms of anxiety right now in terms of policing.”
Stober said he’s not ready to put a levy lid lift on the ballot until he better understands the department’s plan for those new officers.
“Today, the vision I received was we’re going to add more people to the city payroll. And that is something that will address certain people’s anxieties,” Stober said. “I want a more broad vision of what we’re trying to accomplish. I want to understand how we’re bringing things together to envision safety in our community in a different way, of which our police department is a tool.”
Holmes said the committee, which has only been working since January, was tasked with finding solutions for the department’s constrained operations, and more officers patrolling the streets accomplishes that.
“We’re reaching the limit of the capacity of Vancouver police to consistently, reliably and effectively deliver basic police services,” Holmes said. “We have very clear, measurable gaps in current services by VPD that can only be provided by commissioned officers.”
Councilor Diana Perez said the proposal seemed too complicated. She said she feared voters would be confused by the language of the levy measure.
Councilor Bart Hansen said he was supportive of adding officers, but he would like to see the city reduce the plan’s costs in other ways.
The council is scheduled to reconsider the proposal at 3 p.m. July 8.
