Vancouver’s Proposition 4 will ask taxpayers to pay for more police personnel

The Vancouver Police Department has said it is among the police departments with the lowest staffing levels per capita in Washington state. At the same time, the department said the city has seen an 87% increase in reported crimes over the past six years.

The city’s numbers, now being distributed in mailers ahead of the November election, also point to higher demand in the growing city: The department has seen a 30% increase in calls to police since 2018, and twice as many calls since 2017, six or more officers have required responses. Crime data collected by the FBI shows Vancouver, like many other cities, has seen an overall increase in crime during the pandemic, although both violent and property crimes have declined from their peaks last year.

Still, it’s not easy to ask residents to increase their property taxes in times of inflation, said City Councilwoman Sarah Fox.

“But it’s even worse to turn around and tell residents ‘we know you’re a victim of a crime but can’t really investigate it.’ Or we’ll get back to you in a month or two,” she said.

The resulting tax proposal is Proposition 4. It asks whether voters want to increase property taxes to fund 80 new police officers and 36 unsworn police positions, expand a homeless outreach team and increase a range of public safety resources, including cameras -supported traffic monitoring and AI report writing tools. This week, the head of the Portland Police Bureau also announced the need to dramatically increase the number of officers to keep pace with staffing levels in other cities.

Funding these services would incur an annual cost of 0.41 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value in 2025. Proposition 4 would also impose a 5% annual increase in property taxes through 2030. This is estimated to raise $15.5 million in 2025 and $36 million in 2030. According to the city, that means a tax increase of $205 in the first year for a home valued at $500,000 and $585 at the end of the six-year period.

Proposition 4 is the result of a year-long citizen task force, according to Fox. It received unanimous support from Vancouver City Council in September. However, the proposal becomes complex when it involves also paying for out-of-town public safety services provided by Clark County.

County Councilman Glen Yung said he supports law enforcement, but without additional funding at the county level, Proposition 4 could create a “traffic jam” as the work of 26% more police officers will spill over into county-provided services such as jail space, county courthouse paperwork processing, and Indigent defense to represent those accused of crimes.

“Certainly there will be a gap. We just don’t know how big that gap will be,” he said.

Yung said the county is working to understand the real impact of the passage of Proposition 4, and he said he will also soon ask residents for more resources to support the sheriff’s office.

“To me it’s just that to maintain the system we need to find more resources. If they have the police officers available to make the arrests, I want a bed available. I want the system to work as it should,” he said.

Fox said Clark County has been aware of capacity issues and staffing shortages at the jail for years, but has not raised the necessary funds for upgrades. Instead, she said, the prison is forced to release inmates because there is no room to house them.

“I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for our security officers to deal with the same offenders multiple times because of the prison situation,” she said.

Fox, a member of the Vancouver Police Advisory Committee, said Proposition 4 is an attempt to raise officer ratios to the national average.

“I think it’s worth asking Vancouverites and taxpayers the question: Would they want a better police service? Do you want to feel safe in your community? And if so, that’s how high the cost is,” Fox said. “If they just think it’s too high and they can’t afford it, then they also have to live with the consequences of what we can afford.”