The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
Donnelly: Vancouver’s Prop. 4 for police merits support
By Ann Donnelly
Published: October 5, 2024, 6:01am
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On Sept. 16, the Vancouver City Council voted on five initiatives to appear on the November ballot. First, it supported the city’s Proposition 4 to fund police and other public safety expenditures, but then it voted to oppose four statewide citizen initiatives.
With several council members recusing themselves, the full council went on record as opposing I-2066 (for energy choice including natural gas), I-2109 (repealing the capital gains tax), I-2117 (repealing the Climate Commitment Act), and I-2124 (making the state’s long-term care insurance optional).
As a supporter of the statewide initiatives, I viewed the council’s opposition as distracting. The four initiatives attracted signers last spring at a record pace. Their sponsor, Let’s Go Washington, claims that 57 percent of their supporters are Democrats or independents. Conservatives are the movement’s base. So, the measures appear broadly popular.
Under the circumstances, rather than mixing messages at its Sept. 16 public hearing, the better council strategy would have been to focus on Vancouver’s Proposition 4 property tax, leaving the statewide measures to the voters.
Passage of Proposition 4 is crucial and timely. The expenditures it funds kick off a multistep updating of the public safety system of Southwest Washington.
Other future Clark County needs — the jail, more sheriff’s deputies, a permanent home for the sheriff’s administration, more facilities for mental health and homelessness, more prosecutors — are also essential. A multifaceted plan to address the devastation of drugs is also clearly needed.
No single measure is sufficient without the others. And this is the year for Vancouver’s Proposition 4.
A levy lid lift, such as Proposition 4, allows additional property taxes to be collected when the amount allowable has been reached under the city’s levy authority. Vancouver’s 2024 general fund property tax levy is approximately $2.09 per $1,000 in assessed value.
The Proposition 4 levy lid lift would authorize a 5 percent annual increase for six years. In 2025, the increase would be 41 cents per $1,000 in 2025, raising some $15 million in its first year.
The owner of a $500,000 home, an increasingly common valuation here, would experience a $205 increase in property tax the first year, increasing to $585 in 2030.
This is a sobering prospect for taxpayers. But the value of this levy lid lift, developed by the city’s 13-member Police Advisory Committee, is in its specifics. Funds collected will be spent exclusively to improve public safety, including 80 additional full-time police officers; 36 full-time nonsworn police support positions; efficiency- and safety-enhancing technologies; support for the jail, corrections, prosecutions, and vehicles.
The need is indisputable. Vancouver’s population has increased from 46,400 in 1990 to 198,163 in 2024, according to the World Population Review, while police presence in our communities has remained static. Per capita, Clark County ranks as the lowest in the state for law enforcement presence, and Washington ranks the lowest state in the nation. We should at least be average.
Since 2018, the Vancouver Police Department has experienced a 30 percent increase in call volume for police services and an 87 percent increase in reported crimes. Within the city, at certain hours, the number of officers may decline steeply, police officials tell me. If a serious crime occurs, all of them may be called to that scene, exposing other neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, we expect the police to handle the dangerous challenges of homeless encampments, retail crime, fentanyl overdoses and untreated mental illness.
Vancouver police officers need the reinforcements that can only be summoned with a majority vote for Proposition 4.
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