Thurston Co. got $10M in first full year of public safety tax. How is it spent?
A voter-approved public safety sales tax has made a big impact for Thurston County in just a few years, County Manager Leonard Hernandez said Tuesday.
“I think it would be safe to say commissioners that the public safety sales tax has been transformative for this county,” Hernandez said. “So, we really appreciate the voters’ approval to activate that.”
Hernandez made the comment during a budget presentation to the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday. Voters approved the 0.2% sales tax in the 2023 general election, and collection began in April 2024, according to county documents. The tax has primarily helped grow the Sheriff’s Office even as the county has faced other financial challenges. Now, a new public safety sales tax is expected.
In a councilmanic vote, the board approved an additional 0.1% sales tax in December, and collection is expected to start in July, said Summer Miller, the county’s budget and fiscal manager. That means that the council can implement the new tax without going to voters.
“Based on our point-in-time assumptions and estimations, collection amounts are projected to be about $4 million for (2026),” Miller said.
The new sales tax follows House Bill 2015. State lawmakers passed the bill in the 2025 session, allowing local jurisdictions to impose a new sales tax to support criminal justice purposes.
The public safety sales tax voters approved in 2023 yielded $16.2 million in 2025, the first full year of collection, per the documents. About $9.7 million went to the county and the rest went to the cities, Miller said. The Sheriff’s Office got $7.3 million, she added.
In 2024, the county received approximately $7.2 million and $5.4 million went to the Sheriff’s Office, according to county spokesperson Susan Melnyk.
The county receives 60% of the total sales tax revenue, and the cities get 40% in accordance with state law. Of the county’s portion, 75% goes to the Sheriff’s Office, and the remaining 25% goes to prosecution, public defense and election security.
So far, the sales tax has allowed the Sheriff’s Office to hire twenty-four deputies, three sergeants, two cadets and four support staff, according to county documents. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office has acquired 27 new vehicles.
The Sheriff’s Office got a new headquarters at 111 Israel Road SW, which is near Tumwater High School and Interstate 5. The county finalized a $14.3 million real estate deal to acquire the property in 2025, The Olympian previously reported.
The Sheriff’s Office also acquired technologies to use in pursuits such as grappler nets and GPS trackers. Lastly, the documents state the Sheriff’s Office upgraded deputy body cameras.
To organize the revenue, the county places the Sheriff’s Office portion in a fund labeled 1230 Law and the remaining portion in a fund labeled 1240 Justice.
The balance for 1230 Law was $3.8 million in fiscal year 2024 and $4.6 million in fiscal year 2025, Miller said. Looking ahead, Miller estimated the fund balance would be $5.7 million in fiscal year 2026 and $5.3 million in fiscal year 2027.
For 1240 Justice, Miller said the fund balance was $1.7 million in fiscal year 2024 and $3.5 million in fiscal year 2025. The fund balance will be about $3.4 million in fiscal year 2026 and $2.5 million in fiscal year 2027, she estimated.
“Budgeting requires projections and estimates, so decisions can be made in real time, while revenue and expenditures can take a few months to be finalized,” Melnyk said in an emailed statement. “The fund balances are impacted by reductions in expected revenue and costs rising faster than anticipated.”
The county has used revenue in the 1240 Justice fund to pay for additional staff in the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the public defense department, according to county documents.
The county also used the revenue to expand and better secure the county’s ballot processing center and election infrastructure in Tumwater.
