Voters will be asked to extend 0.2% STA sales tax for 20 years this August

Voters will be asked this August whether to renew a 0.2% sales tax funding the Spokane Transit Authority for another 20 years, following an at-times contentious board vote Wednesday.

Roughly 75% of the agency's operating revenues come from a 0.08% sales tax, which was increased by 0.2% with voter approval in 2016. That ballot measure included an automatic 12-year sunset clause, and is set to expire at the end of 2028.

A majority of the board had seemed ready on April 16 to approve putting a 0.2% tax renewal on the August ballot with no sunset, arguing that an early renewal effort gives the agency some leeway to try again if voters reject it, and also out of concern that an $82 million commitment from the federal government to expand rapid bus routes could evaporate if the agency cannot quickly prove its long-term financial stability.

The board voted 5-4 to place the 20-year sunset clause on the measure. Members voted 7-2 to place the measure on the ballot. County Commissioners Al French and Josh Kerns cast the no votes.

But that decision was delayed until Wednesday at the request of Greater Spokane Incorporated, the region's chamber of commerce, which wanted board members to meet with GSI behind closed doors on Tuesday to lobby for a sunset clause, among other less unified concerns. Supporters of a sunset clause argue it creates accountability for the agency by forcing it to regularly come to voters for renewed approval.

Spokane Valley Councilwoman Pam Haley, an STA board member, urged a deferral to hear from the business community, saying that some groups like GSI and the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce - which Beck headed until February - had threatened to finance an opposition campaign against an August tax renewal, in large part because they worried it would undermine efforts to pass a larger new tax to fund a new jail and other criminal justice investments.

Haley and Spokane Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke, who both attended the Tuesday meeting with GSI, later reported that the organization in general did not oppose placing the renewal measure on the August ballot.

At least one organization in attendance did, however: the Spokane Business Association, founded and funded by developer Larry Stone, a long-time critic of the regional transit system in particular and buses in general. Gavin Cooley, former chief financial officer for the city of Spokane and current director of strategic initiatives for the association, attended Wednesday's board meeting in opposition to renewal, though he argued this was not an anti-transit position.

"I am here today to urge the Board not to extend the two-tenths percent sales tax, and certainly not to make it permanent," Cooley wrote in prepared statements he was not allowed to deliver, as the meeting did not allow for public comment.

Using data from state audit reports, Cooley claimed the agency was sitting on reserves of more than $270 million and did not need the additional funding; the agency defines its own reserves as just shy of $76 million, though Cooley has called this an accounting quirk that obfuscates the size of STA's coffers.

Board members did not give any consideration Wednesday to the possibility of ceding a renewal effort, but Haley did propose a 20-year sunset clause. Twenty years would be plenty to demonstrate to the federal government that the agency could sustainably fund operations of new rapid bus lines if it received federal funding, Haley argued, but could assuage the concerns of community groups that believed the agency would become unaccountable if its funding wasn't at risk.

Others, like Spokane City Council members Sarah Dixit and Zack Zappone, argued that sunsets jeopardized the continuity of transit operations and dismissed the concerns of residents who rely on transit and have advocated for a permanent renewal, if not a tax increase to expand services. They voted against the sunset clause but in favor of putting the measure on the ballot.

Erik Lowe, co-chair of pro-transit activist group Spokane Reimagined, noted in written comments that 75% of the agency's sales tax funding is not subject to a renewal.

"Does this mean the agency is 75% no longer accountable to the public?" Lowe wrote. "Threatening to cut sales tax funding because board members don't trust the agency to operate in the public's best interest doesn't build public trust or hold the agency accountable."

Dixit also argued it was hypocritical to say that a sunset ensured accountability to the voters without first asking voters whether they wanted one. If voters rejected a renewal without a sunset clause, the agency would be able to submit a second ballot measure with one, Dixit argued.

Several board members who opposed a sunset clause in principle acquiesced Wednesday in the interest of compromise. Klitzke and Spokane Valley Councilman Tim Hattenburg argued that a sunset was not necessary to ensure accountability for the agency, but believed a 20-year horizon ensured reasonable financial sustainability and hoped it would bring skeptical parties like the business community onboard with a ballot measure.

The 20-year extension will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot. If approved, the sales tax will remain in effect until the end of 2048.

Editor's note: An earlier online version of this story gave incorrect information about the votes cast by the STA board. A 5-4 vote was cast in favor of putting a 20-year sunset clause on the measure. The board voted 7-2 in favor of putting the tax on the August ballot.

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 7:09 PM.